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Underreporting the real number of Covid victims, inflated billing and concealing documents related to the purchase of “drugs and equipment during the pandemic” are among the many problems noted by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report.
According to the report, the state has reported about a fifth of the total number of deaths during the Covid pandemic, and has urged the government to investigate the scam with the help of an independent investigative agency.
The PAC, which analyzed the measures taken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare during the pandemic, submitted its report to the state legislature recently, highlighting irregularities in the procurement of required medicines and equipment during the period.
One of the main issues raised by the report was the “underreporting of deaths” in the state. The Directorate of Economy and Statistics reported that the total number of deaths between January and July 2021 was 4,26,943. The committee said that the number during the same period in 2020 amounted to 269,029 deaths, noting that the increase in deaths during the same period of the two years amounted to 1,57,914.
“Shockingly, Department of Health and Family Welfare officials told the committee on August 24, 2021 that the total number of deaths was only 37,206…they have irresponsibly reduced the number of deaths by 1,20,708,” the report said, urging the government to compensate The remaining victims who died of the epidemic.
It also accused the department officials of supplying ventilators received under PM-CARES to private hospitals, instead of district hospitals and government Taluk hospitals during the pandemic period. While administration officials said the respirators were returned to the government once the Covid case abated, the PAC said the distribution of respirators to private hospitals during the height of the Covid pandemic was “unwarranted.”
The main issues referred to by the committee included irregularities in the procurement of three-part blood cell counts, five-part blood cell counts, overspending on procurement of rapid antigen test kits, expenditures incurred on black fungus disease and drug shortages in the state among others. .
The PAC also recommended that action be taken against those responsible for their failure to provide the requested information. The report stated that in several cases, officials misled the commission with incorrect information.
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