Testing times: Uttar Pradesh grapples with a scam involving COVID-19 testing kits
While the state government fixed the procurement price of COVID-19 testing kits at Rs 2,800 each, there are allegations that they have been purchased at inflated prices, in some cases amounting to four or five times the fixed cost.
As the cases of COVID-19 rise in Uttar Pradesh with over three lakh people affected and more than 4,000 dead, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government grapples with a scam related to COVID-19 testing kits. The government had directed the gram panchayats in all districts to procure the testing kits for health workers to use in the villages, and there are accusations flying thick and fast about misappropriation of funds.
On September 8, an MLA from its own party, Devmani Dwivedi from Sultanpur district, alleged corruption in the purchase of the testing kits, and has written a letter to the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, apprising him about the matter. The Sultanpur panchayat was also accused of not following the protocol in allocating the contract for the testing kits, by floating an e-tender, as should have been the norm.
The COVID-19 testing kits are made up of oximeters used to measure pulse and oxygen levels, and thermal scanners to check for fever, and the allegation is that these have been procured at a price several times higher than their original cost. While the government had fixed the price at Rs 2,800, it is learnt that the testing kits were purchased for Sultanpur panchayat at Rs 9,950. There are reports of seven more districts – Pratapgarh, Bijnor, Jhansi, Unnao, Saharanpur and Ghazipur – being accused of buying the testing devices at four to five times the rate, but opposition parties claim there are as many as 65 districts involved.
The chief minister has referred the matter to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Renuka Kumar, an officer from the Indian Administrative Service. He has directed that a report be prepared and submitted in 10 days. Meanwhile, the district panchayat officers of Sultanpur and Ghazipur have been suspended.
Government under attack from opposition
On September 12, in the state capital of Lucknow, Congress party workers rallied over the scam and shouted anti-government slogans. There were a barrage of tweets from opposition parties accusing the government of being complicit in the matter.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh tweeted, “Yogi Ji please note, even the online price of an oximeter is Rs 800 and thermal scanner is Rs 1,800. Why did then DM Sultanpur buy the COVID-19 testing kit at Rs 9,950? Who earned and how much in the deal? Corruption under the pretence of corona is akin to soliciting commissions at the shmashaan (graveyard).”
Singh has demanded a CBI probe into the scam. “In Uttar Pradesh, this scam is not confined to just a few gram panchayats or districts, but concerns as many as 65 districts and possibly even more. It does not only include village or district level officers. The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh is steeped in corruption from top to bottom,” Singh said at a press conference in New Delhi, on September 4.
Scam across districts
“We initially thought the scam was confined to Sultanpur, but it became obvious that there are more districts where COVID-19 test kits were purchased at inflated prices at the panchayat level,” said Aam Aadmi Party state president Vaibhav Maheshwari to Gaon Connection. He claimed to have received documents that stated, “At least 65 districts of Uttar Pradesh were involved in the Rs 2,000 crore corona testing scam.”
Maheshwari was sceptical about the SIT inquiry, and the suspension of the two district panchayat officials, and also demanded a CBI inquiry into the scam. He questioned how a scam of this magnitude did not reach the chief minister’s ears earlier. “What will the SIT investigate? First of all, the government should have filed an FIR, which it has not. At a time when the common man is dying in this pandemic every day, the government is indulging in corruption,” he said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi tweeted, “According to news reports, there has been a scam in the corona kit purchase in Uttar Pradesh. Have there been district recovery centres formed in view of panchayat elections? PPE Kit Scam, 69K Scam, Power Scam. Firstly, do a scam, then pretend to be strict and stifle the scam. Ajeeb Dastan He Ye, Kaha Shuru Kaha Khatm! (It is a strange tale, where does it begin and where will it end).”
The government on its part reiterated its commitment to get to the bottom of the scam. “No officer involved in the corruption will be spared. The government has set up an investigation through the SIT team which will submit its report within 10 days. It will take stringent action against the highest officer or the lowest employee, if they are found guilty,” Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava told Gaon Connection. “The Yogi government has always been against corruption from the beginning,” he said.