Contract to buy sanitary pad vending machines on hold after MLC Anil Parab alleges scam
Parab had alleged that the BMC had given contracts to install 5,000 sanitary pad vending machines with incinerators in 5,000 public toilets across the city.
3 min read
MLC Anil Parab The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has put on hold a contract worth Rs 42 crore to install 5,000 sanitary pad vending machines in public toilets across Mumbai. This came after Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab, who had alleged corruption in the procurement of machines, met BMC administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal on Thursday.
The meeting took place days after Parab moved a breach of privilege motion in the legislative council during the recent monsoon session against Chahal for not giving him time to meet and discuss the issue of alleged scam in procurement of sanitary napkin vending machines in BMC toilets which he has been raising.
Parab had alleged that the BMC had given contracts to install 5,000 sanitary pad vending machines with incinerators in 5,000 public toilets across the city. However, there are no 5,000 BMC-run public toilets in Mumbai. Parab had also alleged that despite the cost of a vending machine being Rs 40,000 as per the GeM portal, each machine is being procured at a cost of Rs 76,528 and there is corruption in the procurement.
Parab told media persons after meeting Chahal that he was assured by Chahal that no further work orders to procure the machines would be given till the satisfactory technical report on the performance of the 200 machines already installed in the BMC run public toilets is received.
Parab, however, demanded total scrapping of the contract and alleged that even the 200 machines installed are not working as no contract has been given for procurement of sanitary pads.
“In the past two sessions, I had raised the issue of sanitary vending machine scam. I had sought BMC Commissioner’s time, but he didn’t give the same and hence the privilege motion was moved by me during the last session, following which he gave me time and the meeting took place today. In the meeting, I raised all the issues regarding this contract and he has given an assurance that even as there was a contract for procurement of 5000 machines, they will procure only 200 of these machines on an experimental basis and do a pilot project and will go ahead only if the technical report is satisfactory. The BMC has told us that the report will be shown to us and only if we are satisfied that they take this project forward,” Parab said.
When contacted, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told Express that the project has not been fully scrapped.
Meanwhile, another civic official, who is privy to the development, said the BMC will not go ahead with any further procurement of new vending machines and a concrete decision about this plan will be taken up only after the report for the 200 vending machines that has been installed is presented to the civic administration.
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