If you need a pair of socks for your child, where will you go, a garments shop or a car accessories shop?
If you need a pair of socks for your child, where will you go, a garments shop or a car accessories shop? This question might seem absurd to you but not to Ahmedabad Municipal School Board which passed a proposal at its meeting on Wednesday to pay a car accessories dealer for the socks it had supplied to its schools.
Prior to the enrolment drive in June 2011, the school board had purchased socks for students from two traders, one of whom was a car accessories dealer.
The board had purchased 10,000 pairs of socks from the accessories dealer at the rate of Rs7 a pair. It is also interesting that the school board split the total order for 30,000 pairs of sock between two traders.
Authorities of the school board explained that the order was given in an emergency situation as the contractor who had bid the lowest for the socks failed to honour the deal.
Lagdhir Desai, administrative officer of Ahmedabad Municipal School Board, said that one Sarswati Enterprise from Kalol was the lowest bidder at Rs5.50 per pair of socks. "However, three days before the enrollment campaign, the trader expressed his inability to supply the socks. This is why the school board had to rope in two suppliers," Desai said.
Desai said that the two suppliers had supplied the socks at the price bid by Sarswati Enterprise but he could not explain why payment was made at Rs7 per pair to the car accessories dealer.
Meanwhile, the board also passed another controversial proposal to pay a software company that was given an order without inviting bids by other interested parties.
The school board had roped in a firm called Margi Infosystem for installation of Gujarati language software and other software in 116 computer systems in different primary schools. The school board gave the order at Rs2,800 per system after inviting price list from the market but not after inviting bids from other parties.
Desai failed to give any reason for not floating tenders for the needed software but said that the decision was taken in the interest of students and schools.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}