Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that his government will investigate the alleged scams during the BJP regime, including the “40% commission” in public works, irrigation projects, bitcoin scam, and the deaths of COVID-19 patients due to the non-availability of oxygen in Chamarajanagar.
Medical colleges
Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersons in Hassan on Tuesday that there had been allegations of irregularities in the construction of four medical colleges taken up during the BJP rule. During K. Sudhakar’s tenure as Minister for Health, there were irregularities in procuring essential items necessary to tackle the spread of COVID-19, he said.
“I had raised the issue in the legislature and demanded a probe then. We will probe into the irregularities and bring out the truth,” he said. Mr. Siddaramaiah, as Leader of the Opposition in July 2020, had alleged misappropriation to the tune of ₹3,000 crore in the procurement of equipment to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.
The “40% commission” in public works was one of the major issues that the Congress had raised against the BJP during the election campaign. The Karnataka State Contractors’ Association had alleged that contractors had to pay 40% of the total project cost as commission for grant of projects or to get their payments cleared.
The bitcoin scam involved alleged money laundering and the theft of ₹11.5 crore from the Karnataka government’s e-procurement portal, besides hacking into gaming sites and international cryptocurrency exchanges. Leaders of the Congress, including B.K. Hariprasad, the then Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, had alleged the involvement of bigwigs in the scam.
Chamarajanagar deaths
The deaths of 23 people due to the non-availability of oxygen in the district hospital at Chamarajanagar in May 2021 had turned hugely controversial. “The then Minister for Health, Dr. Sudhakar, had misled the public by stating that only two patients died in the hospital. We will investigate the incident,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
The Chief Minister said the government would also investigate the scam in the recruitment of 545 police sub-inspectors. “The CID has been investigating the case. We will speed up the investigation and ensure the guilty are punished,” he said.
The former Home Minister Araga Jnanendra in Tirthahalli said on Tuesday that the probe into the allegations of recruitment had been completed. The CID had filed the chargesheet in court. He also welcomed the CM’s statement to probe into the Bitcoin scam. “Let the government probe into all projects of the last five years,” he said.
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