BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition BJP and Congress on Sunday targeted Odisha Government over the alleged scam in procurement of masks, PPE kits and other materials related to Covid-19 management and demanded a clarification.
Alleging that Covid management has given an opportunity for rampant corruption, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar Aparajita Sarangi said the State Government should clarify why PPE kits were procured from an optical store in Chennai and masks, testing and PPE kits purchased at high prices from different companies in Punjab and Haryana.
Criticising the State Government for the largescale mismanagement in providing healthcare to Covid-19 patients, Sarangi said as per the Government’s 5T policy, it should keep all information on financial assistance provided to each Covid hospital, name of the patients undergoing treatment and the expenses incurred towards the treatment of each patient on public domain.
Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja also demanded that the Government should make the monetary transaction in the procurement of PPE kits, masks and nebuliser public. Testing should also be increased to contain the pandemic, he said. Reacting to the Opposition criticism, BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said instead of raising the Tamil Nadu link to malign someone, the BJP leader should come up with conclusive evidence if there is any irregularity.
