Bengal Governor trashes probe into Covid purchases by Mamata government

Dhankhar took to Twitter on Friday to allege scam in pandemic purchases.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar (Photo | PTI)
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar (Photo | PTI)

KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar termed the Mamata Banerjee government’s probe into the alleged irregularities in procuring equipment to combat Covid-19 by a three-member committee as a “cover-up probe lacking credibility”. 

Dhankhar took to Twitter on Friday to allege scam in pandemic purchases. He said the state government investigation lacks credibility as “decision makers are shielding culpability”.

“Post facto saviour mechanism! An independent probe alone can fix culpability. The probe must track the money trail and the ill-gotten gains.” 

Asking the Chief Minister to lift the “iron curtain”, Dhankhar called for a white paper to indicate total purchases and sourcing. “Corruption breeds with lack of transparency.”

The government formed a three-member panel led by the home secretary following complaints of irregularities in purchasing equipment and gadgets required to treat Covid patients.

The panel will go through the records of the past five months and submit a report to the chief secretary.
“Because of the emergency situation, we had to relax the purchase procedure. There were complaints of irregularities. The CM wants a stern action,” said a government official. According to data available with the finance department, the government has allotted more than Rs 2,500 crore to combat the pandemic.

“The government has already supplied more than 21 lakh PPE, 15.66 lakh N-95 or FFP-2 masks, 70 lakh other types of masks, 40 lakh gloves and 2.5 lakh litre sanitiser to hospitals across the state,” said an official.

The government procured equipment through the medical service corporation and Tantuja, a unit under the State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society.

In some cases, the health department also procured some items. 

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