PM-CARES ventilators dumped in Punjab; Akalis say 'faulty on delivery, smacks of big scam'

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal demanded an inquiry into the alleged purchase of faulty ventilators via the PM-CARES fund after 71 out of some 80 ventilators received by the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot were allegedly found to be defective. Writing a letter to PM Modi on Wednesday, Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that supplying defective and inferior quality ventilators during a time of national health emergency was a criminal offence and demanded the company responsible to be booked. Further, the Akali Dal leader called for a probe into the whole purchase, claiming that the 'entire issue smacked of a big scam' and requested for all purchases made under the PM-CARES fund to be subjected to the vigorous process of selection as done for orders of the Centre.

"It is very important to ascertain if defective ventilators were purchased deliberately because the entire issue smacks of a big scam. Action should be taken against all those responsible for endangering the lives of COVID patients, however big they may be," Sukhbir Singh Badal wrote in his letter to PM Modi.

In his letter to PM Modi, Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that the purchase of the faulty ventilators had led to the loss of lives in Punjab and pointed out that 71 out of 80 ventilators received by the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College were allegedly defective and unfit for use. The former NDA ally requested PM Modi to dispatch 80 tried and tested ventilators from a reputed company to the hospital in Faridkot. Sukhbir Singh Badal went on to claim that similar faulty ventilators were supplied to Rajasthan under the PM-CARES fund and urged PM Modi to divert his attention to the issue. The SAD president also urged PM Modi to approve Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's (SGPC) request to import vaccines in order to supplement the efforts of the Centre. 

“You would be shocked to learn that 71 out of 80 ventilators received by the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College at Faridkot under the aegis of the PM Cares fund have been found to be defective and unfit for use. The Baba Farid University Vice-Chancellor has gone to record to say that the ventilators were of significantly inferior quality. The Medical College authorities have tried to use the ventilators but they ran out of order after developing multiple defects within a few hours of being started. You would understand that in such a situation the hospital is not taking any risk", he wrote.

Ventilators sent via PM CARE Fund not working

Earlier in the day, the Punjab government claimed that 62 out of 82 ventilators procured under the PM CARES Fund were not working, right from the time they were procured. Citing poor quality as the reason, the government stated, "The general ventilators come at the cost of 10-15 lakhs while the ventilators procured under the PM-CARES Fund comes at the cost of 1-1.5 lakh, and they are not good in quality."

Pointing out that this not the situation just in Punjab but all across India, the government said, "We are planning to buy 10 general ventilators, and in the meantime, get the non-functioning ventilators fixed." The government then went on to talk about why the ventilators were not yet fixed till now, and said, "There are just 1-2 mechanics who have been traveling all across Punjab to fix the ventilators, but we will soon get them fixed."

Life-saving equipment like ventilators is a need at a time Punjab is facing a crunch in medical equipment when the COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high. On Tuesday, the state reported 8,668 fresh cases and 217 fatalities, pushing the total caseload to 4,59,268 and the death toll to 10,918. The active cases in the meanwhile stand at  76,856.