BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday said that those involved in corruption in management of the Covid-19 pandemic will not be spared.
Speaking to the media after the cabinet sub-committee meeting, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, said that the State Government has accepted Justice Michael D’Cunha’s Committee report on Covid-19 irregularities and the government is constituting a committee consisting of serving and retired officials to look at the report.
“To ensure that no one unnecessarily faces trouble, a committee is being formed to look into the report. The committee is to just guide us in taking follow-up action,” he said.
Shivakumar said that a departmental inquiry will also be conducted against the officials and as per the recommendations of Justice D’Cunha’s report and criminal proceedings will also be initiated.
“It can be any number of cases. We have accepted the report and whatever action can be taken legally, it will be taken,” he said responding to a question if FIR will be registered against those named in the report.
The DyCM said they will again take stock of the investigation in Belagavi. He said the cabinet sub-committee will not be involved with the procedures and a free hand has been given to officials to investigate the Covid-19 irregularities.
Explaining the alleged irregularities, the DyCM said that as many as 84 lakh RTPCR tests have been done in Bengaluru City Corporation limits at Rs 502 crore, and Rs 400 crore has already been released.
“This means that two people from each household were subject to RTPCR tests. In Kidwai Hospital alone, 24 lakh tests were done and Rs 146 crore was billed. There was no approval from ICMR. We need to verify this,” the DyCM said. There are just two examples now and they will not spare the culprits, Shivakumar added.
“We have not even taken his name, but he is talking as if he is a culprit. The recommendations suggest filing criminal charges under Section 71 and Section 11 of Public Service Act,” he said responding to a question about the former Health Minister’s allegation that it was a political witch hunt.
The DyCM said they have rejected the report that stated that there was no human error in the tragic death of 36 people in Chamarajanagar Hospital during the pandemic. “We will investigate it again. CM Siddaramaiah
and I have witnessed the situation there. We also visited the homes of 36 victims. But the then minister had said that only 3 people had died due to oxygen shortage,” he said.