God Save us – model state on the brink of pandemic collapse
B S Murthy
Twitter – @murthybs
for a model state in professional education , Karnataka has the highest number of medical seats in India , 10 % of India’s 72000 medical seats , Karnataka has 50 medical colleges & 7400 seats with a population of 6.2 crore people , Uttar Pradesh with 23 crore population has 36 colleges with 4700 seats !!!. All this data necessarily means the state has the highest per capita healthcare professional resources to fight a pandemic better than any other state in India . We could have been a model state for others to follow. What we see today is a utter failure of state in ensuring minimum care & support amidst raising corona cases . Today Karnataka is racing towards #2 slot in India all due to sheer failure to apply resources wherever needed in time . If Bihar or UP has climbing numbers due to inadequate healthcare facilities , we are a text book case of negligence and carelessness.
This pandemic time has been an opportunity for corruption of epic proportions. Every item procured by the state has the scent of corruption right from top to bottom. All government purchase protocols have been blown off to ensure corruption , the sheer openness & shamelessness has shocked even the diehard supporter of BJP !!. It is a text book case of corruption and even a formal anti corruption enquiry will unlock this scam. Headline management & whatsapp forwards praising CM on the “good work” done have been unleashed on the people , as CM completes one year of his term , he himself certified his work as “good” !!.
One year of wasted time & opportunity , the progress achieved by earlier congress government for 5 years have been wasted . The entire year CM has spent in persuading MLA’s to defect , followed with by-elections for 15 assembly constituencies , followed with minimum ministry taking oath with no work & budgets allocated , now followed with corona epidemic . This has been the worst year for Karnataka since 2013 , with no visible work delivered to people.
Scam running into 1000 crores
The timing of appointment of D K Shiva Kumar as KPCC president has been apt and he has infused new energy & motivation for the cadre across the state. Despite epidemic issues , DKS has been able to bring in the corruption issues to mainstream scaring the entire state ministers to block all information about the corruption in corona related purchases . CM & 7 cabinet ministers were deployed to attack congress and divert the attention from failures .
It is said the purchase rates are manifold that of market rates , also the needed numbers that have been purchased have not been delivered as well means state has paid more but got less number of products , this is a double dhamaka to the tax payers money & uniquely Gujarat model of corruption.
as DK Shiva Kumar pointed out everything from purchase of medicines, medical equipment, cots, blankets, chair , table , PPE kits , gloves , sanitizers , facilities smell of rampant corruption. The city corporation commissioner has been moved out as pressure from congress mounted.
Getting a bed in a designated hospital in Bangalore if you are a commoner is a nightmare , people with symptoms have died on the roads awaiting medical attention & allocation of beds in government hospitals. Bangalore is the only city in India where 7 cabinet ministers have been allocated to manage the pandemic & It has been months & still they are busy turf battles & corruption. The more the ministers allocated , bigger the number of cases emerging each day speaks about how BSY govt is functioning. Not a day goes without people dying on the roads or not taken care off. Health minister confessed that only god can save the state after spending 2000 plus crores of tax payers money , looks like they have given up on managing the pandemic , are only managing the media & the narrative.