War Of Words Between BJP & BJD Over PPE Kit ‘Scam’ In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Sunday targeted the Odisha government for an alleged scam in the procurement of PPE kits.

Briefing the media, BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said the state government should clarify as to why it has purchased the PPE kits from an optical store in Chennai and why were masks, testing supply kits and PPE kits procured at high prices from different companies in Punjab and Haryana.

Sarangi also accused the government of mismanagement in COVID-19 treatment. “You ask anybody, who has gone to the private or public COVID hospitals, and they will tell you about the mismanagement,” she said.

The BJP leader further said that as per the state government’s 5-T policy, it should keep all information on the financial assistance provided to each COVID hospital, name of the patients undergoing treatment and the expenses incurred towards the treatment of each patient on the public domain “if it has the guts”.

“It is said that every crisis has to be turned into an opportunity. I have the gut feeling that the COVID management of the state government has become a platform of opportunity for rampant corruption to earn money in a fraudulent manner,” she added.

Reacting to Sarangi’s statement, BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said that instead of raising the Tamil Nadu link with an intention to malign someone, the BJP leader should come up with conclusive evidence if there is any irregularity. “This not the time to spread rumours on such matters when the state government is doing its best to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the state,” he countered.