No tender for sole GMSH chemist shop after 1992
Naina Mishra
Chandigarh, September 10
In what may sound surprising, no tender has been floated since 1992 when the sole chemist shop at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, was allotted to its present operator.
We are earning about Rs 60 lakh per month from five medical shops at the GMCH-32 and tenders for these shops are floated regularly. — Yashpal Garg, UT Health Secretary
The tender for the chemist shop was for two years in 1992. Its licence had been renewed without following the tendering process since then. The shop pays a monthly rent of Rs 3 lakh, which is quite meagre compared to what other shops in the city government hospitals pay.
“We are earning about Rs 60 lakh per month from five medical shops at the GMCH-32 and tenders for these shops are floated regularly. At the GMSH-16, only one shop is functioning and we are earning only about Rs 3 lakh per month,” said Yashpal Garg, UT Health Secretary.
The canteen adjacent to the chemist shop is also being run by this chemist shop operator. Earlier, the Red Cross Society had run the canteen through a firm for about 40 years.
“Fresh e-tendering process for the canteen has been started by the GMSH-16 authorities and it will be completed in a fair and transparent manner without any delay. The issue of huge dues pending against the Red Cross Society will also be taken up and it may be asked about the process adopted for the allotment of the canteen as well as extension or renewal,” said Garg.
Sources confirmed that the GMSH-16 chemist had also been running various shops in and around the hospital for many years. To break its monopoly, the new tender would contain a clause that no person or firm or company or family member will be eligible to operate more than one shop on the campus. The rent for the shop has also not changed much ever since the allotment was made 29 years ago.
To further probe the matter, the Health Secretary has sought the details of the method of licensing followed by the officials concerned with regard to other booths at the GMSH-16 and the role of the Red Cross Society in it.
“The status of other shops and the process followed for its allotment or renewal has been sought. Some of the shops seem to be licensed through the Red Cross Society and we need to immediately seek the details of the process adopted for the allotment of the canteen and its subsequent extensions or renewals by the society,” said Garg.
The tender documents of the chemist shops operating at the GMCH-32 provides for a minimum of 15 per cent discount on the MRP of branded medicines, a minimum of 30 per cent discount on generic and branded generic medicines and a minimum of 30 per cent discount on consumables/surgical items. However, the licensee is free to give discounts higher than the minimum ceiling.
