Mysore/Mysuru: Upa Lokayukta Justice B.S. Patil summoned the Dean and Director of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj and K.R. Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. N. Nanjundaswamy to the Government Guest House yesterday  afternoon and asked them about the huge stockpile of expired medicines at K.R. Hospital running up to Rs. 23,20,015. 

Justice Patil held a meeting with officials of various Departments at the Government Guest House last morning and after the meeting, he was scheduled to visit K.R. Hospital to seek information about the life-saving medicines that have crossed the expiry dates as they were unused and denied to the patients since 2016. He was expected to check the records of purchase, stocks and disposal at the Hospital Chief Pharmacist’s Office. 

However, his visit was cancelled at the last moment and instead, Dr. Nanjaraj and Dr. Nanjundaswamy were summoned to the Government Guest House to offer an explanation. Expressing his displeasure over the wastage of public money, the Upa Lokayukta questioned them as to how the scam went unnoticed for five years since 2016. 

No action despite committee indictment 

The Upa Lokayukta then directed the doctors to recover money from the Chief Pharmacist who was at the helm from 2016 till 2020. Explaining the case to Justice Patil, Dr. Nanjaraj and Nanjundaswamy told him that an Internal Probe Committee was formed after the scandal surfaced and the Committee had indicted Chief Pharmacist Siddaraju for making purchases without checking stocks and also for causing losses. 

The doctors told the Justice that despite the indictment from the Committee, no action was taken against Siddaraju. The Upa Lokayukta then asked the doctors to submit a report to him so that the losses can be recovered. He said that it was unfortunate that the corrupt are being allowed to go scot-free despite evidence. 

The Upa Lokayukta began his Mysuru visit last morning from the Government Guest House where he arrived at 10.30 am and held a meeting with officials. On Friday,  he had been to Mandya where he met officials at the Government Guest House there and visited the Sri Cheluvanarayanaswamy Temple at Melukote. 

Make necessary preparations for the third wave

Justice B.S. Patil, who chaired another meeting with District-level officials yesterday, has asked them to make necessary preparations for the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic to avoid repetition of whatever happened during the second wave.

He said that since officers have learnt many things from the second wave they must not fall back in taking necessary steps to check the intensity of contagion in the coming wave.

“People followed the safety protocol at the beginning of the pandemic but became callous when the intensity of the first wave reduced. I have observed this in H.D. Kote taluk. People have forgotten to wear mask. The callousness on the people’s part resulted in more number of Corona positive cases and casualties during the second wave,” he said. 

The officers must tell people to follow the safety norms strictly following warning by experts about the third wave affecting children. Since the chances of parents spreading the virus to their wards are high, they must be very careful to protect them from the deadly virus, he added. 

“The District Administration must train Gram Panchayat members, Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers and constitute a village-level task force and create awareness. All medical facilities must not only be ready in district headquarters but also to in village and taluk level hospitals,” he said.

Briefing Upa Lokayukta, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham said preparations are in place to take on the third wave of pandemic effectively. They have made medical preparations even if the District records 4,000 to 5,000 cases daily.  So far, 17 lakh persons have been vaccinated which was about 50 percent of the district population.

The Upa Lokayukta complimented the District Administration for its ability to deal with over 5,000 cases daily. SP  R. Chethan, Lokayukta SP P.V. Sneha, DCP Pradeep Gunti, ZP CEO A.M. Yogesh, DHO Dr. K.H. Prasad and others were present.