SAD demands Congress govt present white paper on Rs 1,000 crore Covid spend claim
Coronavirus Punjab: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked the Congress government to present a white paper to disclose how it used Rs 1,000 crore in public funds to upgrade hospital infrastructure in the State to fight the Covid-19 pandemic when nothing had been done on the ground.
Terming the Rs 1,000 crore spent on fighting Covid-19 as a colossal scam, Punjab's former minister Sikander Singh Maluka demanded a central probe into the claim by an impartial agency, saying even as thousands were dying due to the sheer apathy of the Congress government, the latter was making bogus claims.
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He said an urgent probe was needed to detect and punish those responsible for the multi-hundred crore scam as well as to put a lid on further corruption so that State money could be spent on patient welfare.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader said “there was no visible change in the hospital infrastructure. Districts like Mohali and Ropar do not even have dedicated Covid hospitals. New ICU facilities have been created only in two district hospitals which is a pittance and a shame."
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There is a severe shortage of life-saving injections like Toclizumab and Itolizumab besides Remedisvir, he said, adding that patients are not getting access to ventilators with the government failing to increase its ventilator strength exponentially.
Even ventilators provided by the central government were left unpacked for months because of lack of staff to operate them, he said.
Maluka challenged the government to list how and where it had spent Rs 1,000 crore to combat the pandemic. “People are shunning government hospitals due to lack of facilities as well as simple medicines.
Even Health minister Balbir Sidhu does not have faith in the government set up and chose to get treated for Covid in a private institution. Same is the case with other Congress leaders and legislators”.
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