Congress MP and Telangana Congress Committee working president A. Revanth Reddy has alleged that the government had suppressed a report of the Enforcement and Vigilance department on the irregularities in purchase of medicines and equipment by Telangana State Medical Development Infrastructure Corporation (TSMDIC) for COVID treatment.
The MP said purchases worth ₹ 450 crore were made last year for COIVID treatment through TSMDIC and irregularities worth crores were exposed by the Enforcement and Vigilance report. “Why is the government suppressing it and whom does it want to shield?” he asked at a press conference.
Mr. Reddy said similar financial irregularities are likely in the government’s decision to go for global tenders for purchase of vaccines and medicines now. “The constitution of the Task Force committee by the government on coronavirus that will also deal with purchases clearly indicates it,” he alleged.
Task Force
The Congress MP questioned the decision to make IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao the Head of the Task Force committee. “Is it because the tenders are involved here,” he asked and claimed that none of the Task Force committee members were involved in dealing with COVID treatment since the last one year. In fact, former Health Minister Eatala Rajender, who had been active in handling coronavirus issue, has been deliberately moved out so that he can’t be part of the committee and the financial resources to be available for it, he claimed.
He said the Task Force committee should consist of doctors, scientists and technologists involved in studying the virus and creating treatment for it rather than IAS officers who had no knowledge about it. “Ministers or IAS officers should only be involved in implementing the expert committee’s recommendations,” he argued.
The Malkajgiri MP also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government stating that they had ignored the warnings of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders on the second wave. Mr. Modi should have considered the opinion of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or the Opposition leaders who sent a combined letter expressing their concerns and offering suggestions.
He said the Central government is sitting on a request from him for an oxygen plant in a hospital owned by the Defence Department and being converted into COVID hospital. Even the DRDO Chairman’s recommendation has also been ignored, he said and demanded that the same be sanctioned immediately.
