Firms supplying ‘substandard’ PPE kits, sanitiser under fire

Agartala: Ruling BJP MLA in Tripura and former state health minister Sudip Roy Barman has demanded blacklisting of companies that had allegedly supplied “substandard” PPE kits and hand sanitiser to the state government.
Roy Burman, in a letter to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, said, “Out of different categories of PPE kits totaling 9,000 as received by the state, only 914 PPE kits supplied by HIL were found to be appropriate & the rest were found to be permeable to liquid & such permeability is hazardous in COVID-19 treatment intervention.”
“The procured ‘goggles’ were found to be unable to provide the much-needed protective seal essential for the protection of the eyes,” Roy Burman said.
He said the frontline workers are bound to be vulnerable to COVID-19 if they use the kits and requested Deb to “blacklist those companies/traders who have provided such substandard materials”.
He alleged that “the process and disbursement of the allocation of funds for the persons stranded in other states” is in a mess.”…there are a large number of stranded persons in actual who have not received single farthing assistance to date despite fulfilling all formalities. (PTI)