Siddaramaiah demands white paper on Karnataka's COVID-19 expenses

BENGALURU:  Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has asked Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s government to be transparent about its expenditure on Covid-19 containment measures. In a public appeal on Sunday, Siddaramaiah asked Yediyurappa to release a white paper on the money spent for handling Covid-19 crisis including ramping up healthcare facilities.

“People are extremely worried about the state of our healthcare system and the government’s preparedness to address the pandemic. It is the CM’s responsibility to clear doubts and reduce panic among citizens. I urge the government to release a white paper on the issue.

The CM should let the people know how much of their money has already been spent to improve healthcare facilities, how much the capacity of beds and ventilators has been increased and about the supply of PPE kits to corona warriors,”  Siddaramaiah said.

Following the public appeal, Siddaramaiah is all set to write official letters to Yediyurappa and Chief Secretary T M Vijaya Bhaskar urging them to release a white paper. “Yediyurappa should also reveal what the contribution of PM Modi has been to Karnataka.  People should know if Yediyurappa has demanded assistance from the PMO, how much funds from PM Cares has been spent on Karnataka’s healthcare infrastructure,” he urged.

In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah said the Yediyurappa government and as well as the Centre had wasted too much time during the lockdown period. “The purpose of lockdown was to fill the gaps in healthcare system. But they just widened it by frequently changing the protocols and by not doing adequate tests. @CMofKarnataka & other depts have failed to answer my multiple queries regarding the actions taken. As a leader of the opposition, it is my right to question the govt on behalf of people. Deliberate act of denying information is a breach of privilege (SIC)” Siddaramaiah tweeted.