Look what the Delhi government-run "Children's Home for Boys-II" had ordered last year: a consignment of ladies undergarments, including "superior quality brasseires, knickers, ladies' vests and dhotis". It's not as if the home's 146 boys had suddenly taken to cross-dressing.
Ordering ladies undergarments for a boys' juvenile centre smacks of corruption, insiders say.
Worse, nobody at the Alipur home knows what became of the "superior quality" underclothes.
Documents with the Hindustan Times, in fact, show blatant mismanagement and wastage of public money in the name of social welfare at the 14 such homes for destitutes, mentally-challenged children and juvenile criminals.
Sample this: In 2004-05, the Narela home bought plastic jugs, each costing Rs 480. It ordered for 900 undergarments at Rs 67 a piece — twice of what the same quality would cost in the market. It shelled Rs 100 each for 150 pieces of socks and paid Rs 140/kg for the low-end variety of Surf. The Narela home also bought plastic dustbins for Rs 495 each. The same dustbins were bought by the Alipur home for boys for Rs 140. Likewise, the Alipur home purchased "Mayur Jugs" for Rs 420 each, while the Narela home bought them for Rs 560 each.
The supplier in both the cases was the Delhi Consumers' Co-operative Wholesale Store. Records of 2000-01 throw up similar results. The Narela home procured trousers for Rs 780 a pair, shirts for Rs 400 and underwear for Rs 80. There's more: poor quality tennis balls were bought for Rs 125.
{{/usCountry}}The supplier in both the cases was the Delhi Consumers' Co-operative Wholesale Store. Records of 2000-01 throw up similar results. The Narela home procured trousers for Rs 780 a pair, shirts for Rs 400 and underwear for Rs 80. There's more: poor quality tennis balls were bought for Rs 125.
{{/usCountry}}There have been instances when payments have been made on fake quotations. Also when while the payment was made but the goods never reached the homes. A couple of officials have been brave enough to record this but were transferred.