Debadurllav Harichandan, OP
Bhubaneswar: Flagging serious irregularities in the procurement of polythene films (used in packaging milk for sale) by the Odisha State Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited (Omfed), a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) stated the state-owned dairy farm incurred losses to the tune of Rs 3.38 crores by flouting the recommendations of its technical committee.
The report by the apex audit body said July 1, 2015, the Purchase Committee of Omfed floated a tender for three-layer polythene rolls. Among the specifications in the tender, the thickness of each polythene film should be of 48-52 microns, and the materials be supplied between August 1, 2015 and July 31, 2016. “On June 30, a day before floating the tender, Omfed’s marketing wing made a proposal to purchase black and white polythene films as they can store milk for longer durations. Accordingly, a corrigendum to the tender was issued July 2, 2015,” the CAG report stated.
Subsequently, the Purchase Committee went ahead with the marketing wing’s recommendations, and gave a nod to the proposal, July 7, 2015. The top brass then decided to form a technical committee to consider specifications for production of the polythene films in milk packaging machines by the suppliers. However, to everyone’s surprise, the tender was altogether cancelled by Omfed’s managing director.
“Instead, the Purchase Committee resorted to procurement on a pilot basis and invited suppliers in October, 2015 without specifying the required thickness for the polythene films,” the report stated.
Two firms – Indu Packaging and IDMC Ltd- placed their offers for the purpose. While Indu Packaging quoted a price of Rs 160.13 per kg for polythene films of 50-55 microns thickness, IMDC Ltd quoted Rs 219.34 per kg for films of 60-65 microns thickness. “Following this, a high-level committee of Omfed found Indu Packaging’s offer to be economical since it could yield 380 packets per kg at much lesser price, as against IDMC’s 305 packets per kg,” the report said.
Surprisingly, the Omfed placed an order before IDMC Ltd to procure 42 MT of polythene rolls October 3, 2015.
Thereafter, from October 2015 to March 2016, the dairy farm procured 640.79 MT of polythene rolls. Out of that, 571.88 MT (89%) of 60-65 microns thickness were supplied by IDMC for Rs 219.34 per kg. The remaining 68.91 MT polythene rolls (with thickness of 50-55 microns) was procured from Indu Packaging and two other suppliers at Rs 160.13 per kg. The entire order for Omfed was billed at Rs 14.38 crore.
The purchases continued further as Omfed claimed to have placed orders for procurement of 3,509.50 MT polythene rolls from July 2016 to June 2021 at a higher price of Rs 230.13 per kg, against the initial price of Rs 131.99 to Rs 161.95 per kg.
In response to the report, the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department which runs Omfed said bulk orders were placed with IDMC as it had white pigments and black inner lining. This secured the pouch from penetration of UV rays of sun, it added.
However, the CAG has rubbished these claims and maintained that the response of the department was not convincing as other polythene rolls (with a thickness of 50-55 microns) would have guaranteed the same protections.
PNN
