Cong's allegation on protective equipment bogus: BJP

The BJP on Tuesday rejected as "bogus" the Congress's suggestion that India did not have adequate stock of protective personal equipment (PEP) and wondered if the opposition party was missing the opportunity to "loot" the exchequer.

"Congress' allegations that India didn't have enough Protective Personal Equipment [PEP] in time is completely bogus. Perhaps they are missing the opportunity to loot the exchequer. Imagine the number of Vadra cronies who would have become rich had the Congress been in power!" BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said.

"WHO advisory, dated 27Feb, 'healthcare workers who are involved in direct care of Covid patients need to use PPE'. India had imported 21,000 coveralls in 1st week of Feb and another 30,000 in 1st week of Mar. Besides we have indigenous capacity to produce 35,000 suits per week!" he tweeted, attaching documents to back his claim.

The Congress had earlier alleged that the government is "criminally culpable of not defining specifications of personal protection equipment for doctors and health workers till March 2, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the country should have taken the coronavirus threat more seriously.

"I am feeling sad, because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared," he said on Twitter.

Incidentally, the Twitter handle Gandhi quoted was not available later.