Fateh package rip-off: Amarinder govt purchased Covid kits for ₹940 when the bottom bid was ₹838

It’s the season of scams in Congress-ruled Punjab. With lower than a yr to go earlier than the state meeting polls, the Congress appears to be doing all it could to fill its coffers. So, after promoting Covid-19 vaccines to non-public hospitals at exorbitant charges, the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress authorities has now been caught indulging in a ‘Fateh Kit’ rip-off. A Fateh package incorporates a pulse oximeter, a thermometer, face masks, a steamer, sanitiser, Vitamin C and zinc tablets and a few medicines for Covid-19 sufferers. Interestingly, nonetheless, the state authorities has procured these Covid kits below three completely different tenders, though the time period of the primary tender was six months.The Punjab authorities floated a young in April to obtain twenty objects together with sanitisers, masks, oximeters, thermometers and Covid medicines to be given to Covid sufferers in a package. The tender was awarded to the agency that quoted the bottom worth, i.e., Rs 837 per package, and was made legitimate for a interval of six months. According to AAP chief Raghav Chadha, the Congress authorities procured 50,000 Fateh kits for Rs 1,226 per package via the second tender. Another order of 1,50,000 kits at Rs 1,338.40 per package was positioned to the identical vendor, regardless of it being an costly selection than the earlier one.Essentially – the Congress authorities of Punjab has allegedly purchased ‘Fateh Kits’ even above the quoted worth within the first tender. As per Raghav Chadha, the primary tender was awarded at Rs 837 per package, however after ordering just a few thousand kits from the seller at a better worth of Rs 940, a brand new tender was floated and allotted to a different vendor at Rs 1,226 per package. Chadha additionally alleged that it had come to mild {that a} agency, which didn’t have a medical licence, was chosen to ship the kits to the federal government.The opposition has pounced on the Captain Amarinder Singh authorities for making use of a disaster to allegedly fill its personal pockets. “This is a cut and dried case of corruption. It is noteworthy that the firm which was awarded the tender does not even fulfil the criterion of having a drug license. But it was still chosen to deliver the kits to the government. We demand an impartial inquiry into this scam and exemplary punishment to the guilty,” mentioned Sukhbir Singh Badal of the SAD.The BJP shouldn’t be mincing its phrases both. BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia mentioned, “This is Punjab’s suit-boot Ki Sarkar. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should break the silence because people want answers. The people of Punjab want to know why the state government is profiteering from the sale of vaccines. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is silent on the issue.”