Congress demands joint audit of ventilators under PM CARES fund

Mumbai: Congress, which is sharing power with Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra on Saturday, has demanded a joint audit from the Centre and the state governments of ventilators provided under the PM CARES Fund saying that the Modi government should have announced the audit a year ago. State Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant said only an audit won’t be sufficient as the action against culprits must be taken.

Sawant said that manufacturers may have good relations with Gujarat BJP leaders but their ventilators are proving to be useless. ‘’It is commendable that some medical officers in Ahmedabad had the courage to call spade a spade. But still many government medical officers are scared. In Maharashtra many ventilators are lying unused. It is satisfactory that we could give voice to this injustice meted out to the people in dire need,’’ he added.

Sawant reiterated that a joint audit by the Centre and the state governments should be conducted in the supply of ventilators under the PM CARES Fund in the larger public interest as it will guarantee truth.

Sawant on Friday had alleged a big scam in the ventilator provided under PM CARES fund and demanded a state-level inquiry into all ventilators provided by the Centre to the state.

Sawant took to Twitter to share the report submitted by the committee of Medical experts appointed by Government Medical College, Aurangabad. He added that the committee has found all ventilators provided under PM CARES to the institution useless.

However, the union health ministry on late Friday evening clarified that the reports about Make In India ventilators in Aurangabad district were not functioning were baseless and incorrect, not supported by full information on the matter. These ventilators were then made available to states as per their requests. This supplier is not funded under the PM CARES fund.