COVID commission report finds corruption at every stage of procurements made during the pandemic

Based on the commission’s findings, the State Cabinet has recommended action for recovery of penalty and excess payment of ₹500 crore from the suppliers/service providers concerned

Published - October 10, 2024 10:58 pm IST - Bengaluru

Among the observations, the commission found that illegal claims and excess claims were settled under the AB-ArK in empanelled hospitals without necessary facilities. 

Among the observations, the commission found that illegal claims and excess claims were settled under the AB-ArK in empanelled hospitals without necessary facilities.  | Photo Credit:

The report by retired High Court judge John Michael D’Cunha, who probed into the alleged COVID-19 ‘scam’ that is said to have occurred during the previous BJP government, has found “serious illegalities, malpractices and corruption at every stage of the procurement process during the pandemic”.

Based on the commission’s findings, the State Cabinet has recommended action for recovery of penalty and excess payment of ₹500 crore from the suppliers/service providers concerned.

Extent of procurements

According to extracts of the commission’s report, accessed by The Hindu, while procurements made by the State Health and Family Welfare Department (HFWD) amount to ₹1,754.34 crore, those made by the National Health Mission (NHM) amount to ₹1,406.56 crore. Similarly, procurements to the tune of ₹918.34 crore have been made by the Directorate of Medical Education, ₹1,394.59 crore by the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd. (KSMSCL) for medical equipment, and another ₹569.02 crore for drugs, and ₹264.37 crore by Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology. Irregularities have been found in a majority of these procurements and recovery has been recommended.

The reports relevant to the HFWD handed over for further action to the government include details regarding transactions/procurements/purchases/tenders (worth ₹1,754.34 crore) that happened at the level of HFWD Commissionerate, Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, and State Institute of Health and Family Welfare.

This includes the construction of oxygen plants, ICUs/paediatric ICUs, liquid medical oxygentanks in district and taluk hospitals, lab consumables, stationeries, civil works, test kits, ambulance services, Information and Communication Technology equipment, software systems, settlement through Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK), manpower services, vaccine purchase, and compensation for dependents.

Under the NHM, money has been spent on different activities such as COVID-19 testing/lab payments, IEC programmes, health helpline Aptha-Mithra, vaccine vans, IT services, and vehicle hiring. Likewise, procurements by the KSMSCL include oxygen concentrators, RT-PCR kits and RNA extraction kits, and PPE kits as tallied by the commission.

Observations

Among the observations, the commission found that illegal claims and excess claims were settled under the AB-ArK in empanelled hospitals without necessary facilities. It observed that records do not show that the 14 private labs identified by the NHM were approved by the ICMR. Six labs were selected without assessing the technical capacity and eligibility, resulting in a loss of ₹2.64 crore. Besides, a payment of ₹4.29 crore was made to eight other labs towards RTPCR testing without any administrative approval, according to the findings.

It has recommended a detailed inquiry into the transaction purchase of 200 thermometers at an abnormal rate of ₹15,000 per unit. Besides this, purchase of 23,004 infrared thermometers at a cost of ₹9.3 crore has been done without administrative approval. It has recommended a separate Lokayukta investigation into purchase of oxygen containers at a cost of ₹3.6 crore.

The commission noted that administrative approval of the Chief Minister was obtained for procuring PCR kits, RNA extraction kits and VTM of a total value of ₹60.8 crore. However, the records indicate that procurement for ₹160.25 crore was made for which there was no approval. It has recommended recovery of excess amount.

Major recommendations

The commission has recommended that certain infrastructure works, purchase orders of the items supplied and services hired must be cross-checked (tallied) with actual execution on the field. “The documentation should be verified to ensure that supplies actually happened and utilised/installed,” the report stated.

Pointing out that wasteful expenditure and unwanted relaxation of rules have happened, which has not yielded any result, the commission has recommended disciplinary action against the public servants/officers/staff, etc. who have violated the KTPP Act, shown negligence of duty and exhibited administrative action which led to loss to exchequer, favoritism etc.

It has also recommended the initiation of recovery against various vendors and criminal proceedings against certain officials for violation of act/rules and action without justification.

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