Govt objections irk polythene producers

In view of the large requirement of about 3.4 lakh rolls of polythene sheets, Orissa had advertised a free tender, inviting polythene sheets from manufactures through Orissa Small Scale Industries. It mentioned two specifications for the acceptance of the polythene rolls the rolls supplied should be 150-250 micron thick, colour no bar, 40 m in length, 3.69 m approximately in width, around 40 kg in weight and made out of recycled material and another of virgin categoryconforming to Indian Standards.

To ensure accuracy in testing, the state appointed a four-member committee comprising the director of Export Promotion and Marketing, director of Textiles, Joint Director of EPM and senior manager of Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology.

However, in view of both the quality and strength of sheets, after the commencement of laboratory testing in CIPET from November 24, the state added the tensile factor and visual appearance of polythene sheets.While only 30 per cent of the suppliers could conform to the the new tests, the rest failed. So, most of the suppliers were rejected.

On Saturday, polythene samples of 61 trucks were taken for testing, of which only 24 were accepted. Out of the 37 rejected, 30 were due to tensile strength. 8220;Since we have spent a huge amount on procuring polythene sheets from our small units and its transportation and above all, we have satisfied the tender criteria, there is no point in rejecting our products,8221; lamented SAgrawal, owner of Bhatara N8217; Companies from Calcutta. Most suppliers also expressed their anger against the state over the lack of communication.

They alleged that though suppliers of selected polythene trucks were informed about the results in a day8217;s time, the others were not being told about the fate of their materials.