BBMP officials easing curbs for coronavirus patients for a price

BENGALURU: Close on the heels of inflated rental bills being raised by contractors for containment zone infrastructure like poles and tin sheets, instances of BBMP officials illegally easing Covid-19 restrictions in return for a price are coming to the fore.
The going rates, according to sources in the know, are Rs 3,000-Rs 6,000 for favours like Covid-19 patients not having a home quarantine board put up in front of their homes and avoiding a stay at Covid Care Centres to stay back in home isolation.
On Sunday, a junior health official called Malleswaram resident Ankur (name changed) and informed him about his samples having tested positive for Covid-19. The official said the patient will have to be shifted to a Covid Care Centre (CCC). “I was worried over shifting to the CCC because I feared I could develop other health ailments unnecessarily. I asked the official if I could stay at home. He said a colleague would come home and talk about it,” Ankur told TOI.
‘No idea about issue, will act against those making money’
Around 2.30 pm, a man wearing a blue shirt and black pants with a receipt book visited the patient’s house. “The officer asked me how many of us were positive, to which I replied one. The man said I had to pay Rs 3,500 for not having a poster outside my house and Rs 4,000 if I didn’t want to shift to the CCC,” Ankur said.
To escape from the stigma, Ankur paid Rs 7,500 to the officer. Neither was a poster put outside his home nor was he shifted to any CCC.
Allowed home quarantine after paying Rs 12k
A similar incident has been reported from Annapoorneshwari Nagar in west Bengaluru, where a family of three who tested positive was allowed to stay in home quarantine after paying Rs 12,000.
Annapoorneshwari Nagar resident Ravi (name changed) said he, his wife and their eight-year-old daughter tested positive for Covid-19 on August 14 and officials demanded he pay Rs 4,000 per head if they wanted to stay home and their house not to be sealed off.
“We live in an apartment and we didn’t want our home to be sealed. Also, our neighbours would panic. We decided to pay the money and stay at home,” he told TOI. BBMP chief N Manjunath Prasad said he had no clue about the issue and would act against those making money.