PPE kit row: Oppn releases docu to buttress its charge

Releases letter to KMSCL by TN firm expressing its willingness to provide 25,000 kits at ₹550 a piece, a day before deal with M'rashtra Co at ₹1,550 per piece

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @T'Puram

THE OPPOSITION on Wednesday released a document to buttress its charge that the state exchequer suffered significant losses through the irregular purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits during the Covid pandemic.

Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan released a letter to Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) by a Tamil Nadu based firm expressing its willingness to provide 25,000 PPE kits at Rs 550 a piece, a day before KMSCL ordered the kits from a Maharashtra-based company at Rs 1,550 per piece.

"The then Health Minister had claimed that the purchase at a higher rate was done as kits were not available. However, the letter has proven her claim to be false," Satheesan said.

The Leader of the Opposition also cited the CAG report which mentioned various irregularities on the part of KMSCL in procuring medicines during the pandemic period.

"The government has converted KMSCL into an arena for large-scale corruption," he said.