"So, is the scandal about purchase of equipment by the civic body settled or not?" an acquaintance asked me. They believe I should have all inside information about working of the civic body because I work in one of the civic hospitals.
"Since there is nothing much about it in the newspapers, it must have settled" I said.
He looked at me with disappointment. He must have hoped for a bit of fresh info - gossip perhaps.
"Do you know the reason the tenders are inflated when meant for government and civic bodies?"
"Are they?" I asked.
"They are. The reason is the vendors have to make some profit at the end of paying off everybody who is to be paid off." I wondered how this fellow had this information which I did not have despite not being connected with the civic body in any way.
"Who is to be paid off?" I asked.
"Huh?" he could not believe his ears. What a naive question - his expression suggested.
"There must be a solution to the problem of paying more than the market price" he said.
"There can be" I said, "provided they change their procedure."
"How?" he asked.
"They ask for sealed tenders, open them together, disqualify people who do not meet the criteria, check equipment quoted, and then check price bids of all those who qualify. Thus there can be no manipulation of prices in order to get the lowest bids. But then some politician claimed there was a fraud in the last civic tender despite all these steps being followed. He claimed the companies had quoted far higher than the market rates. He showed an offer for half the price from the same company which had quoted for the civic tender. I have a solution to this problem."
"What is it?"
"There should be a provision that after the entire process is over, any other vendor should be awarded the tender if he could have the qualification, equipment as per specifications, and a price bid at least 50% lower than the lowest bid for that tender. There should also be transparency and a guarantee by the civic body that the payment will be made within one month of delivery and installation of the equipment."
"That sounds like a wonderful solution!" he exclaimed. "Why don't they do it?"
"They do not have this idea" I said. "Only two of us know about it."
"Why do you not tell them?"
"They have IAS cadre officers and management specialists to do it."
"Write to them" he urged.
"All the letters I have sent to places like the civic body and health university have remained unanswered. What makes you think this one will be any different?"
He had no answer to that one.
"Since there is nothing much about it in the newspapers, it must have settled" I said.
He looked at me with disappointment. He must have hoped for a bit of fresh info - gossip perhaps.
"Do you know the reason the tenders are inflated when meant for government and civic bodies?"
"Are they?" I asked.
"They are. The reason is the vendors have to make some profit at the end of paying off everybody who is to be paid off." I wondered how this fellow had this information which I did not have despite not being connected with the civic body in any way.
"Who is to be paid off?" I asked.
"Huh?" he could not believe his ears. What a naive question - his expression suggested.
"There must be a solution to the problem of paying more than the market price" he said.
"There can be" I said, "provided they change their procedure."
"How?" he asked.
"They ask for sealed tenders, open them together, disqualify people who do not meet the criteria, check equipment quoted, and then check price bids of all those who qualify. Thus there can be no manipulation of prices in order to get the lowest bids. But then some politician claimed there was a fraud in the last civic tender despite all these steps being followed. He claimed the companies had quoted far higher than the market rates. He showed an offer for half the price from the same company which had quoted for the civic tender. I have a solution to this problem."
"What is it?"
"There should be a provision that after the entire process is over, any other vendor should be awarded the tender if he could have the qualification, equipment as per specifications, and a price bid at least 50% lower than the lowest bid for that tender. There should also be transparency and a guarantee by the civic body that the payment will be made within one month of delivery and installation of the equipment."
"That sounds like a wonderful solution!" he exclaimed. "Why don't they do it?"
"They do not have this idea" I said. "Only two of us know about it."
"Why do you not tell them?"
"They have IAS cadre officers and management specialists to do it."
"Write to them" he urged.
"All the letters I have sent to places like the civic body and health university have remained unanswered. What makes you think this one will be any different?"
He had no answer to that one.
