EDMC relaxes norms to let inferior pharmaceutical firms get contracts
22 Feb 2014 5:14 AM IST
There are some entry-level barriers in government departments to stop inferior-quality drug suppliers from taking part in the tender process.
However, the civic body lowered the limit of annual turnover to enable domestic pharmaceutical firms to be eligible for the contract. While the annual turnover limit in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to supply antibiotics and cardiology medicines has been set at Rs 75 crore, the EDMC has only set the limit at Rs 50 crore and Rs 25 crore for antibiotics and cardiology medicines, respectively.
According to the tender inquiry form, a copy of which is available with Millennium Post, it is stated that any firm which has been blacklisted by any government department in the past three years, would be barred from supplying medicines.
However, the documents available with the newspaper suggests that the Alpa Laboratories Limited (one of the firms which was awarded the contract) has been black listed by Employee’s State Insurance Corporation on May 10th, 2013 for three years for supplying drugs of inferior quality. To add to that, the same pharmaceutical firm was debarred from supplying medicines to NDMC hospitals after the matter came to the knowledge of the authorities.
It was also stated in the inquiry form that a third party drugs supplier was not eligible for the contract. However, Joint Pharmaceuticals was procuring the medicines from a third party and supplying it to the civic hospitals. Raising the matter during the standing committee meeting of the EDMC, Varyam Kaur, leader of opposition in EDMC demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter at the earliest.
‘This is a very serious matter pertaining to the lives of thousands of patients. A CBI inquiry must be initiated as soon as possible,’ said Kaur. Meanwhile, Sanjay Surjan, chairman of the standing committee in EDMC assured the house that if anyone is found guilty, strict action will be taken against them.’
However, the civic body lowered the limit of annual turnover to enable domestic pharmaceutical firms to be eligible for the contract. While the annual turnover limit in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to supply antibiotics and cardiology medicines has been set at Rs 75 crore, the EDMC has only set the limit at Rs 50 crore and Rs 25 crore for antibiotics and cardiology medicines, respectively.
According to the tender inquiry form, a copy of which is available with Millennium Post, it is stated that any firm which has been blacklisted by any government department in the past three years, would be barred from supplying medicines.
However, the documents available with the newspaper suggests that the Alpa Laboratories Limited (one of the firms which was awarded the contract) has been black listed by Employee’s State Insurance Corporation on May 10th, 2013 for three years for supplying drugs of inferior quality. To add to that, the same pharmaceutical firm was debarred from supplying medicines to NDMC hospitals after the matter came to the knowledge of the authorities.
It was also stated in the inquiry form that a third party drugs supplier was not eligible for the contract. However, Joint Pharmaceuticals was procuring the medicines from a third party and supplying it to the civic hospitals. Raising the matter during the standing committee meeting of the EDMC, Varyam Kaur, leader of opposition in EDMC demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter at the earliest.
‘This is a very serious matter pertaining to the lives of thousands of patients. A CBI inquiry must be initiated as soon as possible,’ said Kaur. Meanwhile, Sanjay Surjan, chairman of the standing committee in EDMC assured the house that if anyone is found guilty, strict action will be taken against them.’
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