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Himachal education minister dares Congress to submit chargesheet on health ‘scam’
The government has filed an FIR against the anonymous people who had alleged corruption in the purchase of ventilators, said Suresh Bhardwaj
Education minister Suresh Bhardwaj on Tuesday called the Congress’ allegations of the government being involved in a health scam baseless.
“The allegations of fiscal irregularities in the purchase of ventilators are totally baseless,” Bhardwaj said: “Instead of making frivolous allegations and issuing anonymous letters the Congress should submit a chargesheet.”
Bhardwaj said the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government’s tenure had been full of remarkable achievements and providing clean, transparent and sensitive governance were its primary feats.
“Afraid of the government’s growing popularity, the Congress is levelling baseless charges against the BJP regime,” said Bhardwaj.
“During their term,” the education minister said, “Congress leaders were probed by the CBI and other investigative agencies and had to face charges in court.”
He said the government had filed an FIR against the anonymous people who had levelled charges of corruption in the ventilator purchase.
The education minister said the allegation that the government had purchased ventilators worth ₹3.5 lakh for ₹10.29 lakh had been found to be false.
“In fact, the government has not made any such purchase. There are several panels of officers at the directorate level in the health department which oversee the purchase of medical equipment,” he said.
These committees look into every aspect including pricing before making a purchase. The purchases made by other states are also studied.
“The ₹3.5 lakh ventilators spoken of in the anonymous letter is a demonstration unit which is given to the dealer and cannot be sold,” he said, confirming that the actual price of ventilators was ₹10.3 lakh.
As far as purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits is concerned, there was nothing irregular about it, he said.
The health department bought 14,500 PPE kits on April 21 and spent ₹1.84 crore.
After the supply of PPE kits from HLL became smooth, the purchase was stopped.
“After an audiotape surfaced in which an officer of health department was heard seeking bribe, the matter was immediately handed over to vigilance bureau,” said Bhardwaj.
Similarly, the government took swift action in the sanitiser purchase scam.
The government’s actions reflect its zero-tolerance policy against corruption, said Bhardwaj, cautioning the opposition party to refrain from playing petty politics in times of pandemic.
