During the first wave of Covid-19, the Kerela Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Finance Minister TM Thomas had sanctioned the Purchase of PPE kits at three times prevailing market rates. An RTI query has revealed this information.
The most shocking revelation of the RTI query was the fact that during the first phase of the pandemic a company which was ready to provide the PPE kits at a particular price the day before, tripled the prices within a span of just twenty four hours.
RTI query also revealed that on purchase dated March 29,2020 a single PTI kit was priced at Rs.446 while on the purchase dated March 30,2020 it became Rs.1550.
The opposition had been trying to target the Kerela Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue, but now the RTI query has revealed the he was aware of the purchase and had given his approval.
According to the RTI query the purchase file was signed by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. These expensive PPE kits were approved by KK Shailaja and finance minister Thomas Issac.