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108 ambulance tender process as per rules, says health dept
Public health dept clarified after activists and politicos pointed out irregularities in tender process
The public health department issued another clarification on Friday, refuting allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) ambulance tender, four three months after its initial clarification.
The health department’s Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) 108 ambulance service has allotted tender to three companies to provide 1,753 ambulances for the emergency service which will cost around ₹759 crore annually. However, since January this year, activists and politicians have raised allegations stating irregularities in the tender process.
Activists and politicians had claimed that the company that received the tender was formed after the tender was awarded and the proposal was not even approved in the cabinet.
Rohit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP), MLA, on Thursday, took up the issue on X to point out irregularities, “The company which was allotted the tender was established after the tender was granted. This is not as simple as buying something from the market to manipulate laws and regulations for the benefit of certain favoured people...”
Following this the health department has issued a clarification, stating as per the terms and conditions of the tender, the eligible bidders must make a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) registration under the Indian Companies Act 1956 for implementing the project. Due to this the eligible joint tenderers—M/s Sumeet Facilities Limited, M/S BVG India Limited and SSG Transport Sanitaria have registered the SPV under the Indian Companies Act on 12 April after the letter of award was given (March 15, 2024) by the department as per the terms of the tender.
“The establishment of this SPV has been done as per the terms and conditions of the tender and the entire tender process has been carried out in a very transparent manner as per the prevailing rules and policies and there has been no malpractice or irregularity in it. Besides, the department stated that there has been no malpractice or irregularity in the tender process,” it said.
Vijay Kumbhar, vice-president of state Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said, “The clarification given by the health department is partial. The proposal was not approved by the cabinet and the department is saying nothing about it.”
Kumbhar, said, there are two types of agenda in cabinet meetings—regular agenda and agenda list. In the regular agenda, routine matters are taken up while in the additional agenda, proposals for emergency issues like earthquakes, floods, storms etc. which have some urgencies are taken.
“The proposal for the ambulance service was taken as urgent under the additional agenda. However, the proposal was not approved in the cabinet meeting. After the meeting, information about the approved proposals in both work lists was put up on the website and the proposal for emergency ambulance service was not in the approved list,” he said.
