SINCE the coronavirus broke out in the country a section of corrupt businesses, aided by corrupt government officials, were busy making money by breaching tender procedures, stealing from stores and supplying substandard protective gears, kits, etc. One incident of corruption after another in supplying masks and other materials has been continuing since the Covid-19 outbreak in March amid the culture of impunity prevailing at the health service sector putting the public and the frontline fighters at risk. The corruption is going on even after the death of 36 doctors and infection of over 1100 health workers with the coronavirus because of the scarcity of quality protective gears.
A newspaper report yesterday said that Toma Construction Limited imported 3,00,280 N95 Niosh masks from China on May 2 for supplying them to the Central Medical Storage Depot (CMSD), on their unsolicited order without fixing the rate, for distributing among hospitals and frontline Covid-19 fighters. The company had already supplied about 87,000 masks to the CMSD before finalising the rate. The deficiency in Covid-19 preparedness is caused by corruption-riddled purchase in different hospitals over the years that gave birth to curtain and pillow scams. However, we learnt nothing and again indulge in corruption by the unsolicited import of the safety kits.
A government official said during the Covid-19 outbreak the rule of direct procurement was followed. It allows the supplier to give a quotation. Elan Corporation had earlier supplied a lower number of masks than quoted in the signed contract while JMI Group supplied ordinary local masks in the package labelled as N95 masks. The Health Ministry in April formed a committee to investigate how substandard masks had been supplied to hospitals with the N95 level but the probe report was not yet published.
Businesses using their political connections are now busy making money by capitalising the chaos created due to the Covid-19 situation and the government must stop it creating exemplary punishments. The failure to take action against those involved in the first scandal not only protected those who were involved in it, but also offered a licence for corrupt practices for others, and hence a floodgate of corruption seems to have been opened without any gatekeepers.
A newspaper report yesterday said that Toma Construction Limited imported 3,00,280 N95 Niosh masks from China on May 2 for supplying them to the Central Medical Storage Depot (CMSD), on their unsolicited order without fixing the rate, for distributing among hospitals and frontline Covid-19 fighters. The company had already supplied about 87,000 masks to the CMSD before finalising the rate. The deficiency in Covid-19 preparedness is caused by corruption-riddled purchase in different hospitals over the years that gave birth to curtain and pillow scams. However, we learnt nothing and again indulge in corruption by the unsolicited import of the safety kits.
A government official said during the Covid-19 outbreak the rule of direct procurement was followed. It allows the supplier to give a quotation. Elan Corporation had earlier supplied a lower number of masks than quoted in the signed contract while JMI Group supplied ordinary local masks in the package labelled as N95 masks. The Health Ministry in April formed a committee to investigate how substandard masks had been supplied to hospitals with the N95 level but the probe report was not yet published.
Businesses using their political connections are now busy making money by capitalising the chaos created due to the Covid-19 situation and the government must stop it creating exemplary punishments. The failure to take action against those involved in the first scandal not only protected those who were involved in it, but also offered a licence for corrupt practices for others, and hence a floodgate of corruption seems to have been opened without any gatekeepers.
