Amid rising cases in force, Delhi Police looking to buy 30K PPE kits
New Delhi: With rising cases among personnel and in a desperate attempt to contain the spread within the force, the Delhi Police is now looking to purchase 30,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and has placed a bid in this regard. According to police, around 2,500 officials have now tested positive for the virus, of which more than 12 have succumbed to the contagious disease and 2,100 have recovered.
As per the terms and conditions of the bid document, preference shall be given to local suppliers as defined in the public procurement (preference to Make in India) order of 2017 as amended from time to time and subsequent orders and notifications issued by the concerned Ministry for specific goods and products.
The document reads, "Coverall should be supplied in a light colour for better detection of possible contamination and culturally unacceptable colours for example black to be avoided. Non-woven polypropylene should be used for coverall and there should be two-way zipper with sealable storm flap and two-way front zip and sealable front flap to seal the suit from top to bottom to avoid the accumulation of microbes."
Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava had already directed senior officers earlier to ensure that each police station had an adequate number of protective gear for its staff. Some police stations have recorded over 50 cases each among its officials, sources claimed. Staff deployed at containment zones, hospitals, quarantine centres and staff going for raids and conducting interrogations should be equipped with all protective gear, the top cop had directed.
"Each SHO, ATO, inspector investigation, ACP and DCP must have information about the health status of our staff and they should monitor their health condition. We should maintain strict perimeter security in containment zones and make optimum use of volunteers, drones and PA systems to tell people to remain inside their homes," the top cop is learnt to have told senior officials.
In an earlier meeting, the Commissioner had apprised that a sufficient number of protective items were available in the P&L unit and had directed that all districts, units should assess their requirements and send the same to the Special CP (P&L) for issuance. In a meeting held in the first week of July, Commissioner Shrivastava had also reviewed the availability of COVID-19 protective equipment in districts and units.
