Money Minting During The Times Of A Pandemic Is Not What The Nation Wants!

In India, everything seems to be very transparent in the forefront but behind the curtains, a huge propaganda is always going on which directly benefits the mighty and rich people. When it comes to the healthcare sector, the education sector, the political sphere or even the defence sector, something is going on which is causing a lot of black money. From the Rafale deal to the PPE kits deal, all deals ultimately lead to a profit. 

People are always making money in one way or another. There is not even a single deal that goes unnoticed by the ruling party. Where they feel they can make a profit, they hijack it. Be it the deal behind the fighter jets or demonetization or PM Cares Fund, everything goes downhill after these rules are passed. 

When the entire world was in loss, reliance defence got a multibillion-dollar fighter jet deal. This deal was done with another foreign company. The company, reliance defence, was registered just 12 days before Modi negotiated a deal with the French government. All these coincidences, high-level of profit for the people in charge.

Why is the PM cares fund not being audited? When the highest authorities in the world can be audited by the CAG then why can’t a simple fund which is made out of the public‘s money be audited by it? Using a pandemic as the means to collect money from the people is very wrong.

If the government is making money through the PPE, it is safe to say that they would make money if the corona positive patients increase? Is this what the government really wants to portray? The government is using peoples hard-earned money to gather the equipment. What if a huge chunk of your money is going directly into someone’s pocket as commission? 

The question here is that the people of the country pay taxes, give donations and later on I told to indulge into charities to help the poor sections of the society. Then what is the role of the government? Are they just sitting to mint money from various deals and collect money in the name of funds?

Everyone must open their eyes and face this reality. If we do not question, who will? This will continue till doomsday arrives! 

There is a dearth of the personal protective equipment. This has forced the government to open the doors of privatization. 

When it comes to the antibody kits, the government has chosen a Gujarat firm as their partner for the same. Other traders are saying that the government did not really invite any more tenders for the same. Manufacturers and traders are complaining about the government not being fair enough for this. Ahmedabad-based firm Zydus Cadila would produce the kits for ICMR. All this mess, yet no reports and no propaganda was thrown on this! 

Several small manufacturers have come forward due to the shortage in the market. The central procurement agency, which is responsible for buying medicines, consumables and equipment for Delhi government-run hospitals, already has a tender in place for 120,000 PPE kits, with three companies. After this, the centre is supposed to distribute this amongst the states. This whole process requires intensive supply chain management skills which are not possible during the times of a pandemic. The states must have the power to procure all the essential items they need as that can be done in a short span of time. there seems to be a direct money-making motive behind every move of the government. 

Even during these tough times, the government is trying to make money like vultures off dead bodies. 

According to a letter issued by the ministry of health and family welfare, dated April 2, 2020, the central government wants to know the exact number of medical equipment’s available with every state and that the states need not procure any equipment on their own, the central government will do the needy. The state governments will not go for the procurement of these essential medical types of equipment that will be done centrally by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and then it will distribute to states. The state should ensure distribution of this given equipment at the field functionary, reads the circular. This brings a lot of mixed opinions from the people. Some believe this has a huge profit motive while some feel this is an essential regulatory measure.

The government of a country is the parent and legal guardian of all the citizens. In this case, the parent is abandoning the child and busy counting the notes! 

Even if you look at the scenario which is going on today, there is no harmony between the state governments and the central government. The state government of Punjab is asking the central government to clear all their dues. They are not asking for anything else and it is also said that they are not expecting anything from the central government. If there is no harmony between the states of the country, how will the country progress and fight of the common enemy, coronavirus?

All over the globe, governments are looking to procure more PPE, and imports will be hard to pull off. WHO has so far shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 47 countries but supplies are rapidly running out everywhere. Based on WHO estimates, the world needs about 89 million medical masks and 76 million examination gloves for Covid-19 response every month. To fulfil this number, large number of people need to work together and facilitate this process instead of one person fulfilling his own pockets.

Supreme power must not be assumed during the times of crisis and adverse rules must not be passed without any thought process. 

“BJP led authoritarian government wants to throttle the right of the states by using disaster management act,” said senior minister of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi. The senior health official said that they have almost placed the purchasing these health equipment order and about to get delivery as well, but the central government forced them to cancel this order at the eleventh hour. If this isn’t misuse of power then what is? This is another direct attack on the federal structure of the country as said by the opposition. When will the time come when for Mr Modi the citizens come first and then comes the bills? This is a state of chaos and we are utmost loss of words! 

Kejriwal said his government has asked for PPE kits from the Centre but none were received. He, however, said later that the Centre has allocated 27,000 PPE kits to Delhi and hoped they would be available to his government within the next few days. There’s no update on this matter anymore. The number of statements being passed by the political leaders is massive. These statements are positive and negative both. The public only relies on authentic information and till the time matters are not closed, the worst-case scenario will always be assumed.

Our country is going into a total dictatorship rule during this crisis. When the centre has the power to purchase all the equipment for the entire nation, there can be various malpractices. Let us look at this with a practical example.

Situation: BJP is the purchasing head of ABC Ltd and he needs to procure about 100000 pcs of equipment. In a situation like this, BJP floats a tender in the open asking for everyone’s quotation. BJP is the only authority here and is never questioned by his juniors. He has a prior motive to give it to his friend so that they can gain money. When the tender is floated, it ends up with his friend and during this transaction, half of the money goes into BJP’s pocket and the remaining to his friend. This transaction is carried out solely for his personal benefit. During this whole process, information was shared with his friend before the actual date of release of the tender in order to create the most favourite and suitable quotation. This is what happens when someone is given the entire control of a huge economic transaction. Here, we are just using the names as examples and this is just an example solely for the purpose of understanding.

The heinous act is done through the right path and it goes unnoticed because the official path is followed. In this whole exchange, the insider information traded beforehand goes unnoticed and is kept aside. All the wrongs are condemned in such a transparent way that they pass as the right way and if not gone deep into, they look absolutely correct.

Is this what is happening currently with respect to the medical equipment? This might be a possibility after judging the circular issued as mentioned above.  

Prathap Kanagal of the JD(S), took a dig at the Centre’s decision, saying that the federal structure of the country was reduced to a ‘big joke’. “Neither does the Centre do it, nor does it allow anyone. Why has the Centre suddenly issued such an order? Does it fear that it won’t get any commission if the state governments procure it?”

One of the major issues in this circular highlight that the centre is trying to understand the available stock of medical equipment. If that is the case then why can’t the centre just process the information that is given by the states and analyse it? Why is the PM Modi led government indulging into the financial aspect of this crucial matter?

Are all the issues which are critical a way to mint money?

Officials in Rajasthan said that the state had been buying their own equipment. “What the Centre is providing is inadequate,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, the state’s additional chief secretary, health and family welfare. “We are spending a lot of money from our disaster management and NHM [national heath mission] budgets,” he added.

The legality of this matter cannot be judged at the moment but one thing is for sure that there is a great significance and showcase of authorities and their one-sided control. During the times of distress, collective decisions are appreciated because every effort and voice counts, unlike the current scenario going on.

During times like now, the government should own up to their actions and serve the public. After all, there is no government without the people. But people can survive without a government. The publicity and propaganda which is being thrown right now is massive. Aatma Nirbhar Bhaarat is something which will be achieved later on but as of now, we need to survive the way we are. All these blank promises with sugarcoated statements do not mean anything till the time all this is not implemented.

It is said that at the moment India is self-sufficient for the Coronavirus equipment that is needed in the country. India might be self-sufficient, but the condition of the hospitals and the conditions of the doctors is something which is a huge concern all over the country. Why is no money being spent on the condition of hospital and the condition of the poor who are working today but money is being spent on glorifying Delhi projects? The priorities of the country need to be sorted otherwise this will be a noteworthy concern for all the people. 

No matter what happens, corruption cannot be eroded by the corrupt people. There are some loopholes and there are some falls in the system which need to be worked on.