Kozhikode: The chief minister and two ministers had approved the purchase of Personal Protect Equipment (PPE) kits at price three times higher than the market rate through Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL), it was revealed.
The procurement, made during the first COVID-19 wave, had run into a controversy, with fingers pointing at the then-health minister K K Shailaja.
A response from the health department to an application filed under the Right to Information Act by Advocate C R Pranakumar revealed that Shailaja approved the file after the secretaries of the health and finance departments and the chief secretary had cleared it.
The purchase of PPEs for Rs 73.96 crore was later sanctioned by the then finance minister T M Thomas Isaac and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan with retrospective effect.
The government defended the purchase even as it snowballed into a controversy. Replying to the Opposition charges against Shailaja in the State Assembly, the chief minister defended the decision, terming it "unusual measures during unusual times."
Shailaja had earlier clarified that the PPEs were procured with the knowledge of the chief minister.
The KMSCL had procured PPE kits and N95 masks from various companies since the beginning of 2020. However, following the decision by a committee formed to address the medical emergency in the State, Kerala purchased PPEs and other equipment worth Rs 73.96 crore between March 24 and April 4.
The KMSCL forwarded the relevant file to the health department for high-level sanction on April 14.
