e-bills blow lid off another Fateh kit ‘scam’

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, September 21

A supplier of Fateh kits meant for Covid patients seems to have worked at a breakneck speed to deliver more than 40,000 kits from Ludhiana to government warehouses in Amritsar and Bathinda, 140 km apart, unload the boxes at the two destinations, stack them in the warehouses and get the acknowledgement receipts. All in 14 minutes!

Decoding covid-related procurement

• In April 2021, the NHM had floated a tender for procuring 1.5 lakh kits; four suppliers quoted the same price of Rs 1,720 per kit
• This raised the suspicion of tender pooling; the NHM quashed the tender and decided to procure the kits individually
• A Ludhiana-based supplier agreed to supply 50,000 kits charging Rs 1,195 per
• Fateh kit by May 9, 2021
• A week later, another tender was floated by the NHM; the lowest rate quoted by
• another firm was Rs 883.50
• On May 22, the Ludhiana supplier was told as much; he was asked to supply the remaining kits at Rs 883.50
• The supplier, in connivance with officials, tried to fleece the government by charging Rs 1,195, not Rs 883.50, supplied after May 22
• May 22 was the cut-off date fixed by the NHM to slash the price

Sensing another Covid-related procurement “scam”, the state government has withheld the payment to the supplier and taken its staff to task for having fabricated the record in back date.

In April last year, when the second wave of Covid was at its peak, the National Health Mission (NHM) had floated a tender for procuring 1.5 lakh kits, comprising 19 items, including medicines, a digital thermometer, an oximeter and a steamer. The kits were later named Fateh kits.

Four suppliers quoted the same price of Rs 1,720 plus the GST per kit, raising the suspicion of tender pooling. As a result, the NHM quashed the tender and decided to procure all 19 items individually at the then existing rate contract.

In the meantime, the NHM received an email from a Ludhiana-based supplier who agreed to supply 50,000 kits charging Rs 1,195 per kit by May 9, 2021. Two days earlier, the government had issued a purchase order to the supplier.

A week later, the government floated another tender, in which it was found that the lowest rate quoted by another firm was Rs 883.50.

On May 22, the NHM conveyed this to the Ludhiana supplier and asked him to supply the remaining kits at Rs 883.50.

This was the starting point of the “scam”. The Ludhiana supplier claimed to have supplied 41,500

kits on May 22, the cut-off date fixed by the NHM to slash the price.

In its report, the NHM has suspected that the supplier, in connivance with government drug warehouse officials, tried to fleece the government by charging

Rs 1,195, not Rs 883.50, for 41,500 kits as these were supplied after May 22.

It has been found that the Ludhiana supplier, who was “hand in glove” with health officials, fudged the record of government drug warehouses in Bathinda and Amritsar. It was mentioned in the official record that he had already supplied 41,500 kits before the government negotiated the price.

The e-way bills sought from the GST Commissioner blew the lid off the scam. The bills for the kits were generated on May 24, but the records of the government warehouses showed that the kits were actually received on May 22.

To show that the kits were delivered on May 22 itself, the Ludhiana supplier generated two e-ways bills — bill No. 234 and bill No. 235 — at 11.46 pm and 11.49 pm, respectively, about 14 minutes from midnight.

“e-way bill No. 236 was generated on May 24, 2021, at 12.40 pm, two days after the deadline,” the NHM stated in its report.

With the mismatch in the date of delivery, the NHM withheld the payment to the supplier.

Besides, a “serious lapse” has been noticed on the part of the staff of regional drug warehouses for having acknowledged the receipts of kits in back date.

What did him in

May 22, 2021 was the cut-off date to slash the price from Rs 1,195 to Rs 883.50. To show that the kits were delivered on May 22 itself, the Ludhiana supplier generated two e-ways bills at 11.46 pm and 11.49, about 14 mins from midnight.

Mismatch in dates

The e-way bills sought from the GST Commissioner blew the lid off the scam. The bills for the kits were generated on May 24, but the records of the government warehouses showed that the kits were actually received on May 22.