Wednesday’s revelations from Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra have spotlighted a procurement scandal allegedly starving state hospitals of drugs, with the Siddaramaiah government at the epicenter of blame.
Public health facilities face a dire medicine crunch due to irregularities under ministerial watch, Vijayendra charged. A powerful private player from Mangaluru, Wahab Khan, is accused of puppeteering the system, fragmenting contracts to breed corruption and scaring off bidders with steep commission hikes.
Result? Drugs bought at triple prices, endless delays. Vijayendra dared Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao to account for the single-supplier tenders. Meanwhile, 108 ambulance workers protest unpaid wages spanning months, joined by doctors fed up with inaction.
Poor patients flock to costly private pharmacies amid shortages, while the government eyes closing Modi-linked Jan Aushadhi outlets. Unsettled bills of 143 crore to diagnostic firms leave CT/MRI inaccessible, particularly harming pregnant women.
Vijayendra implored the CM and Deputy CM to ditch propaganda, face facts, and govern. With his veteran status in budgets, Siddaramaiah should confront these failures instead of scapegoating BJP predecessors and the Centre, restoring health services for the needy.