BMC submitted 12 cr tender for buying canvas shoes and socks for civic schools students

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has submitted a tender for the purchase of canvas shoes and black socks for children studying in Mumbai's municipal schools.  As the city struggles with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it comes at a time of great economic constraints all around.  Initially the tender was extended to December 18, 2020, however, the deadline for online submission of bids was later changed to the updated tender published on February 2, 2021. 

According to the final tender document, the estimated cost of the floating tender will be around Rs 12.21 crore and the contract period will be 18 months.  In the initial document, the deadline for submitting bids was January 18, 2021, in the updated document; the deadline has been extended to February 3, 2021.  Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporators and BMC party leader Vinod Mishra has written a letter to the civic body on the issue, saying the civic body is facing a huge financial crisis at the moment and it is a misuse of the public to make such proposals.

The money could have been used to strengthen the medical infrastructure by providing more beds or oxygen cylinders for Covid patients,”Mishra told a print Media the tender document states that each pair of shoes will bear the MCGM logo and will be distributed in a biodegradable bag.  BMC Education Committee Chairperson Sandhya Doshi said the tenders started last year and BMC has not yet paid the suppliers. We have not received the products, we have not paid the BMC contractors in return, and the products will be delivered to the students only after the schools reopen," Doshi told FPJ.

Although the tender has been finalized, a senior official in the BMC central procurement department said the city council would have to conduct multiple assessments before finalizing the contract.  He also mentioned that the products will be distributed based on the order given by each school. "The deadline for the final agreement was April 15 this year. However, due to the second wave, we had to move the time limit and take further action only after the schools reopen after things return to normal," officials said.