Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri on Tuesday questioned the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the procurement of the COVID-19 rapid test kits. He alleged that the Central government’s silence on why it procured the test kits at ₹600 only emboldens the theory that the Centre was favouring a company that was profiteering from the pandemic or was supporting the company.
In a statement, Mr. Alagiri dubbed it a scam and said it would not have come to light if the distributors of the test kits had not approached the Delhi High Court over a delivery/payment dispute.
Mr. Alagiri said the High Court directed the companies to not sell the test kits at more than ₹400 per piece. “The High Court stopped this massive profiteering to the tune of 145% of the mark up price of each kit. Who decides the price -- ICMR or the Court? Is this the example of the Modi government?” he asked.
The Tamil Nadu Congress president also questioned who will take the responsibility for causing a loss of more than ₹17 crore in procuring the kits. “Will the Health Minister take the responsibility? Will it be ICMR? If the issue had not come to the court, the government would have quietly buried the matter,” he charged.
He alleged that the Tamil Nadu government procured test kits from another company that was not on the list approved by ICMR. [The government has denied the charge.]
“Why did the Tamil Nadu government buy the kits from another company at ₹600? Can the minister (C. Vijayabaskar) hide the fact that the government ordered 4 lakh kits at ₹24 crore with the company?,” he questioned. He alleged that the government was comparing the pricing with other States only because they had something to hide.
“How will the Centre and State governments that cannot buy quality test kits after proper testing be able to save the lives of 136 crore Indians from this disease?” he wondered.
