The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a new pernicious threat: scams and corruption, who prey on vulnerable individuals and seek to exploit this dreadful humanitarian crisis for their own benefit. Organizations will therefore need to be vigilant and build robust mechanisms to thwart fraud in these difficult times. There was many fraud but i picked some major of them, So today we talk about some major scams that happened in the period of lockdown.
1) Gujarat fake ventilators
The ventilators that have been installed across government hospitals in Gujarat, do not have the mandatory license from the Drug Controller General of India. Besides, the trial of the equipment was held only on one patient, and the ethical committee that is required to monitor it was not formed as per Medical Devices Rules. These ventilators were called fake ventilators after the investigation, later the manufacturing company of these fake ventilators, who gave a demo of the equipment at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on the 11th May admitted these are not ventilators through Gujarat government has been promoting these as ventilators in its press releases. In fact, the medical experts who attended the demonstration said these machines should include a humidifier, condenser, and a mask as well. On 19th may an Ahmedabad Mirror’s report revealed that the 900 machines fitted at several government hospitals in Gujarat for Covid-19 patients by Gujarat CM’s friend from Rajkot were not exactly ventilators despite the CM calling it so.
License of the equipment Parakramsinh Jadeja, a friend of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and CMD of Jyoti CNC whose team developed Dhaman-1 admitted that the machine did not have the DCGI license and the performance trial was conducted only on one patient. By this major fraud by bjp CM around 28 people were died in ICU due to oxygen shortage, So the question raised who is responsible for all these death
2) Rural employment scam
An Independent MLA from Gujarat said that the scam in a village came to light after COVID situations, some villagers went to seek work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme but were told that their names were already registered under the scheme, after this incident, many alleged that a multi-crore scam has surfaced in a village in Banaskantha district of the state, in which bank accounts were opened in the name of around 500 villagers without their knowledge for the transfer of money under the MNREGA scheme, in order to siphon off the funds.
Around 500 people never went for MNREGA daily wage jobs in Balundra village. however, they were shown as working. their job cards were made and bank accounts were opened in their names. bank passbooks and atm cards were obtained and money was siphoned off. Some government officials and others swindled over Rs 9 crore to 10 crore by showing villagers as the beneficiaries.
3) Himachal Pradesh scam
The small hill state Himachal Pradesh was rocked by two lockdown purchase scams. In one case, the state secretariat bosses allegedly purchased coronavirus protection equipment and consumables like sanitizers and hand wash bottles at inflated prices. Health Department director Dr. AK Gupta was arrested after an audio clip in which he allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from Renuka, a Sirmaur-based supplier to clear an equipment purchase went viral. The name of state BJP chief Dr. Rajeev Bindal was also dragged into the controversy following which he resigned on Wednesday.
The state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau has also registered a case against the rogue firm titled M/s Lalit Kumar after the Chief Minister had ordered a probe. There are allegations that the price tags of the sanitiser bottles were tempered with and the supplies were made on inflated rates. The supplier was not even licenced under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
4) Madhya Pradesh farmers equipment scam
Power tillers are mini-tractors that can till, plough, sow seeds, plant seedlings, spray fertiliser and harvest crops, among other tasks. They were given to farmers under the Krishi Yantrikaran Yojna but instead of it, the m.p government gave the Chinese power tiller, under the centre’s farm mechanisation scheme in Madhya Pradesh, according to a report by a four-member committee headed by MP Agro managing director Shrikant Banoth. The substandard power tillers were given to farmers between 2017 and 2019 in 11 tribal-dominated districts, sources have said. They also alleged a massive scam in plantation along the banks of the Narmada. Also, the dealers allegedly gave fake acknowledgements certificates of farmers and got funds credited into their accounts. The government said they will make a committee soon for the investigation.
5) PPE kit poor quality
In Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar many doctors and medical officials said that PPE kit quality is very poor and they do not resume the work until the government takes this matter seriously. And between all these fusses The Ministry of Health stated a statement saying doctors are responsible for their own safety, many doctors and officials criticized this statement, but after few days of protest doctors resume their works as the no. of cases was rapidly increasing.
Uttar Pradesh government massive scamAAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said the Covid-19 kits issued by the state govt is costing around 2,800, while in reality it can be priced at Rs 2,000, he claimed that in Uttar Pradesh, corruption was being done by increasing the price of thermometers and oximeters by 300-500 percent in 65 districts.
“The BJP government of Uttar Pradesh issued an order saying that every panchayat will get a coronavirus kit from the state government. This kit will have one oximeter, one infrared thermometer, around 500 masks, 5 liters of sanitizer, etc. One kit costs around Rs 2,700 to Rs 2,800, however, the same can be done within Rs 2,000,” he said. “But unfortunately, at various places of Uttar Pradesh, corruption is being done by increasing the price of thermometers and oximeters by 500 percent, 400 percent, and 300 percent, but until they all are just allegations there is no actual report, maybe cag report will clear these allegations.
Checkout more such content at: https://gogomagazine.in/category/social/
4.5