The report further lists multiple instances of the State government procuring large quantities of PPE kits from local suppliers both before and after the direct purchase order to the two Chinese firms on April 2, 2020.
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The John Michael D’Cunha Commission report, which has recommended prosecution of the then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Minister for Health and Family Welfare B. Sriramulu over the direct purchase of 3 lakh PPE kits from Chinese firms, has said that records were “built up to show that post facto approval of the Chief Minister was obtained.”
Sequence of events
Following a decision by the Need Assessment Committee that the State required 12 lakh PPE kits on March 18, 2020, the Price Fixation Committee that met on April 1, 2020, said that the price of a universal PPE kit was estimated to be ₹2117.53. An email from the director, Industries and Commerce, that had price quotes from three firms was the basis for this estimation. However, quotes were not invited officially, the report notes.
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The note sheet refers to proceedings of the Principal Secretary and PA to Chief Minister and Additional Chief Secretary, Health Minister, which suggested calling a short term global tender or procure under Section 4(a) of Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999. However, “subsequent note sheet indicates that in view of the urgency of the situation, the matter was placed before the Chief Minister and Health Minister and on their approval, direct purchase order was issued to DHB Global Hong Kong (China) for supply of 1 lakh PPE kits on April 2, 2020 at unit cost of ₹2117.53.”
Further on April 10, two more direct purchase orders were issued for 1 lakh PPE kits, each to DHB Global Hong Kong (China) and Big Pharmaceuticals at a cost of ₹2104.53 and ₹2049.84, per unit, respectively. The report said that though the quotations by the firms were scrutinised on the same day, April 1, there was no justification recorded for the difference in rate, the report said, adding that the officials concerned have to be made answerable to bear the above loss of ₹1.22 crore.
“Though the records are built up to show that post facto approval of the Chief Minister was obtained on 02.07.2020, the earlier notings clearly disclose that the order was issued purely on the directions of the Chief Minster, which has rendered the whole process non-transparent, arbitrary and tainted with fraud,” the report concludes.
Why not Indian firms
Further the report also says that an explanation that local suppliers were not in a position to supply 5 lakh PPE kits seems like a ruse to justify supplies from the select supplier identified by the Chief Minister and Health Minister.
“Though in the Note Sheet it is noted that the local suppliers were not in a position to supply the required 5,00,000 quantity, there is nothing on record to suggest that the Indian firms had expressed their inability to supply the quantity needed at any point of time. This explanation appears to have been put forward as mere ruse to justify the supplies from the select supplier identified by the Chief Minister and the Health Minister,” the report said.
From local suppliers
The report further lists multiple instances of the State government procuring large quantities of PPE kits from local suppliers both before and after the direct purchase order to the two Chinese firms on April 2, 2020. For instance, on March 14, 2020, the State government had procured 1.5 lakh PPE kits from a local supplier Plasti Surge Industries Pvt. Ltd. at a cost of ₹330.40 per unit. A corrigendum was issued to this order on March 27, 2020, increasing the procurement price to ₹725. The report also recommends action against officials for the same.
Published – November 09, 2024 12:51 am IST