Bhubaneswar: A day after ‘corruption’ allegations made by opposition BJP and Congress leaders, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das Saturday said there was no corruption in procurement of Covid critical care equipment like PPE kits, masks and sanitisers.
Speaking to media here, Das said, “The price of mask was fixed by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and as per its instructions given in March twice, the government has bought the mask at two different prices—Rs 10 and Rs 16 per piece.”
Procurement has been done as per the advise and guidelines issued by the Union government. Equipment has also been procured from the reputed manufacturers, approved by the ICMR, the minister said. Claiming there is no corruption in the procurement of critical care items for Covid, Das said, “I strongly condemn the political parties and leaders who are playing cheap politics making such false allegation to demoralise our Covid warriors.” If anyone having specific allegation, he/she would write to the government. Investigation will be done, he said, adding, “If you don’t trust us, you can move to different forums including the High Court.” Opposition BJP and Congress had alleged massive ‘corruption’ in the procurement process following removal of IAS officer Hemant Sharma from the post of procurement committee head. They had demanded CBI probe into it.
