Government sets up committee to probe KKRDB irregularities during Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM

BENGALURU: The Congress government in the state has formed a committee to investigate allegations of misappropriation of funds in the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) when senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa was chief minister.

The KKRDB received around Rs 300 crore in grants between 2020-2023, during BS Yediyurappa’s tenure and his his cabinet colleague B Sriramulu who was Minister for Health and Family Welfare. The committee, led by retired IAS officer Sudheer Kumar, will investigate alleged irregularities in the utilisation of funds meant for the development of the Kalyana Karnataka region.

Yediyurappa was the CM when the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board was established to focus on human resources, agriculture and cultural development. Dattatreya Patil Revoor was chairman of the Board during this period.

It is alleged that there was a scam of over Rs 2,000 crore during the Covid pandemic and a lot of corruption in the purchase of healthcare materials. A commission headed by retired judge Justice Michael D’Cunha was formed to investigate the alleged scam.

Congress leaders are saying there is a recommendation for additional prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The government has suffered a loss of almost Rs 14 crore as some Chinese companies were picked to supply PPE kits at a very high price when locally it was available at lesser.

This comes after the BJP’s own MLA and former Union Minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had made serious allegations against the then BJP government that thousands of crores were misappropriated in the management of Covid-19.