BENGALURU: Eight days after Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri passed orders to stall all meetings of Legislative Committees until further notice, Chair of Public Accounts Committee HK Patil has sought permission to hold online meetings. In a letter, Patil has asked the Speaker why the Legislative Committees cannot meet via video conference when the CM himself uses technology to conduct high-security meetings with ministers, District Commissioners and officials.
“A notification has been issued not to hold meetings of any committees, but even before it was issued, the PAC had decided not to hold physical meetings and switch to online mode. Today, I have written to the Speaker to allow online meetings and usage of KSWAN VAN connection under the custody of Karnataka government that is secure to convene the meetings,” Patil said.
The Public Accounts Committee is inquiring into Covid purchases, management and containment measures. In its last sitting, the committee had sought reports from the Health and Medical Education Department and is yet to review the same.
In his letter, the Congress MLA has sought permission to call for an online meeting of the Committee on July 28 when they hope to inspect, call for reports and discuss issues of expenditure, delays in disposal of dead bodies, prolonged wait for ambulances, refusal of admission by hospitals to Covid patients, quality and material of PPE kits etc.