BAHAWALNAGAR: Sources have alleged corruption in the procurement of medical equipment for coronavirus worth Rs7.6 million as well as the procurement of Rs20 million of general items in the district health office.

On the condition of anonymity, some health officials told Dawn that the office announced a tender worth Rs20 million for the procurement of stationery, printing and LP general items in which several firms took part.

According to PPRA rules, to take part in any tender of the health department a firm should already have done business of at least Rs50 million and of them, only Muhammad Traders was eligible for the contract as per this rule. However, the contract was awarded to Bodla Traders, which was set up just four months ago and had yet to conduct business of a single rupee, the official said.

The sidelined firm owner, Muhammad Javed Iqbal, alleged that someone used a fake letterhead of his firm and wrote to the health chief executive officer (CEO) that the tender be cancelled. He alleged the health CEO without listening to his version of events, on the recommendation of the DHO office, cancelled the Rs20 million tender. He said that the practice was adopted to get his firm out of the bidding.

Later, the DHO office with a new tender call awarded the contract to Bodla Traders and reasoned that the only firm that fulfilled the minimum criteria did not want to take part in the bidding process. Vendor Iqbal said that not only the contract award was illegal, the department showed the purchasing of an additional Rs7.6 million for coronavirus from the same firm without a quotation and a tender.

The sources alleged that because of the abundance of equipment, the officials only took 10 per cent supply of the Rs7.6 million purchases and to maintain a balance in the expenses fake receiving were recorded from different departments.

The sources alleged the DHO office not only paid Rs7.6 million in advance but also the DHO account office has no record from tender purchasing to the payment to the firm. The sources claimed that in the said tender despite receiving complaints of overpricing, substandard items and fake-billing, the finance deputy director released the budget without any verification.

DHO Office Accountant Muhammad Aslam said that they had no record of the tender and despite several reminders, the DHO and the CEO had not provided him any record.

On releasing the budget with verification, Finance Deputy Director Sajid said that verification was the duty of the officer who had DDO powers and in this tender, these powers were with Health DHO Waheed Afsar Bajwa.

DHO Waheed Afsar Bajwa, however, said that there has been no misappropriation in the supply for coronavirus related items. He said the committee that inspected the supply of the items included one representative each from the DC office and the army. He said the firm which was awarded the contract of Rs20 million by his office was fully qualified for the contract after an inspection committee checked all the required documents.

Bahawalnagar Health CEO Dr Shahid Saleem said that Health DHO was responsible for awarding the tender to Bodla Traders. Dr Saleem, however, accepted that he verified the documents of Bodla Traders, which he found to be doubtful. He said that he had rejected Bodla Traders on this basis.

The Health CEO also accepted that purchases made for coronavirus had been made on higher prices but he clarified that the prices of items for coronavirus were very high at that time.

Sajid Bodla, the owner of Bodla Traders, said that officials were responsible for accepting or rejecting firms in the tender process. He said that his firm met all PPRA rules, which was checked by the eight-member committee setup by the Health CEO and verified after inspection.

He, however, said that he was awarded the tender of Rs12 million for general items and stationary but he had not yet received the supply order. For the purchase worth Rs7.6million for coronavirus, he said that there was no overpricing in the items and neither was there any issue of fake supply. He also rejected the statement of accountant Aslam and said that all the record was available with the account office.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020