I really can’t decide which is worse: the thieving of the nation, the barefacedness with which they look at us when they give the reasons behind it or the excuses they give. Judge for yourself.

While we were living in a deep dark hole, worrying about how to feed our children and watching with gratitude (and a bit of shame) orchestrated news of donations of medicines and medical equipment coming from India and China, scores of cronies were cashing in on our misery, ignorance and fear. All this was happening surreptitiously and pervasively. It is like a feast being shared among vultures respecting a code known only to them.

Today, we find out the extent of the loot: not millions, but billions of rupees swallowed overnight by people who have a degree in bootlicking or are relatives of those in power. All these good people – whether they had a jewellery shop, a hotel or a hardware store – found a new vocation overnight: delivering medicines and medical equipment to our hospitals at a price they decide which – as we found out – is sometimes more than 2,000 per cent higher than the market price. We also found out that many of the medicines do not meet the European standards or are simply a danger to our health. Worse, we now know that some of these substandard medicines and medical equipment – ordered with a certificate of urgency and paid exorbitant prices for with a rare celerity – have not been delivered yet. And the finale comes this week with the revelation that the director of one of the supplying companies, Pack and Blister, which was given contracts worth more than Rs476 million, had been sentenced for fraud and that some close relatives of the State Trade Corporation (STC) general manager, Jonathan Ramasamy, had benefited from the deal – a clear case of conflict of interest punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“So, our money is gone in billions with no accountability, the medicines supplied are substandard and overpriced, the medical equipment paid for through the nose never arrived, gangsters got away with their loot, those close to power had their bank accounts filled with hundreds of millions of rupees…and the only option open to us is to fork out and shut up.”

The answers to all these scandals? Epic! First, the minister of commerce, Yogida Sawmynaden simply shrugged it off by saying publicly that he cannot check the credentials of every company he assigns a contract to! I swear, I am not making this up. You will recall that this is the chap who, as ICT minister in the previous government, contracted tablets for school children to one of his cronies. The tablets naturally never reached the schools, but full payment was made to Ganesh Ramalingum's company (DCL) without delay. The Education Ministry declared its intention to sue DCL for not providing the laptops, but the attorney general, Manish Gobin, dragged his feet long enough for the company to go into administration, making out with Rs81.7 million of our hard-earned money! The National Audit Office Report 2016-2017 clearly stated that the payment made “is contrary to established financial procedures".

Minister of Health, Kailesh Jagutpal, did not tire himself out looking for an excuse either. When asked how come those who got all these contracts are close to members of the government and the director general of the STC, he took on his usual look of someone who is on some sort of illegal drug and simply replied that, when there is a crisis, you don’t go around looking at who is related to who! They are prepared to supply a product we need and that’s it! In the meantime, laws were changed to make illegal acts such as these legal. There!

You must concede that all the people in the government circles must have had a revelation in their sleep. This is how they got to know what products Jagutpal needed and set up companies to supply them or at least pretend to. We are not close enough to God to benefit from such revelations.

Those who expected a bit more scrutiny in parliament were in for a big disappointment. Tuesday was devoted to a new, very repressive, bill tagging at the heart of our freedom of speech and intended to gag us. The bonus is that no parliamentary questions will be asked!

So, our money is gone in billions with no accountability, the medicines supplied are substandard and overpriced, the medical equipment paid for through the nose never arrived, gangsters got away with their loot, those close to power had their bank accounts filled with hundreds of millions of rupees…and the only option open to us is to fork out and shut up. In the meantime, highway robbery continues unchecked!