SURAJ NANDREKAR / Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: M/s Scoop Industries has become a household name in Goa after the Goemkarponn expose of the misdeeds of the company in supply of Oxygen in connivance of the politicians and Goa Medical College personnel.
Further, it has now come to the fore that Public Accounts Committee for 2017-19, which was headed by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane’s father Pratapsing Raoji Rane, had nailed the scam in the Oxygen supply to the Goa Medical College in its 75th report, which was laid In the House on January 31, 2019.
The Committee had found serious lapse in the billing and monitoring of supplying of medical gases.
“It sees that although 2 trolleys were received billing was for 3-4 trolleys per day. It sees an inconsistency in the receiving of the trolleys and cannot accept that the trolleys were received at 2 different access points. This itself is a major lapse in security and transparency. The Committee recommends a proactive approach to the issue by the concerned officials who should be held personally accountable so that all such loopholes are plugged. Also timely maintenance to avoid losses through leakages need to be addressed,” the PAC said in its report.
Following are the findings of the committee:
IRREGULARITIES IN CONTRACT FOR SUPPLY OF MEDICAL GASES TO THE GOA MEDICAL COLLEGE.
There was abnormal increase in the consumption of medical gases and significant variation in the quantities of oxygen indicated as received by the security staff and the administrative staff of the Goa Medical College.
The Goa Medical College, Bambolim (GMC) invited tenders for “supply, installation and commissioning of Medical gases” (March 2010).
Out of three offers received, M/s Scoop India Pvt. Ltd. Corlim, Goa (M/s Scoop) was assessed as the lowest tenderer at ₹ 52.61lakh in spite of their failure to quote for the maintenance cost as required in the tender.
The Purchase committee recommended (September 2010) acceptance of the offer of M/s Scoop. Administrative approval and expenditure sanction for supply of medical gases at a cost of ₹ 52.61 lakh for a period of one year was granted by the Government (November 2010).
Accordingly, supply order was issued (December 2010) to M/s Scoop. On scrutiny of the supply and billing records, Audit observed that Oxygen was being supplied by M/s Scoop in trolleys fitted with 48 cylinders.
The estimate for supply of medical gases to the GMC envisaged supply of only 42 trolleys of medical oxygen per month, which works out to not more than 1.5 trolleys per day.
It was, however, seen that invoices were raised for three to four trolleys per day and the same were certified as received by the GMC. The invoices indicated that three to four trolleys with the same set of 48 oxygen cylinders were supplied to the GMC on consecutive days. Further, the entries in the register for consumption of oxygen indicated that 48 cylinders fitted to a trolley were shown as consumed in 12 hours on all days.
Recording of the consumption of exactly 12 hours on all days instead of the actual usage of oxygen raised doubts on the method of recording of consumption of oxygen.
After being pointed out in audit (December 2012), the register indicated an increased consumption ranging from 16 to 24 hours per day from January 2013.
Entry and exit of the trolleys carrying the oxygen cylinders were recorded in a register by the Security staff at the GMC gate. The entries in the register of March 2011 were verified and based on this examination it was found that on an average, only two trolleys entered the GMC premises daily.
The contract amount of ₹52.61 lakh was stated to be worked out by the GMC for the estimated quantity of medical gases required for one year.
However, for the period 23 December 2010 to 31 December 2011, the actual amount paid to M/s Scoop on this account was ₹1.14 crore which was over 117 per cent of the estimated expenditure. There was abnormal increase in the consumption of medical gases and significant variation in the entry quantities of material recorded by the security staff and the administrative staff.
The matter was referred to the Government in June 2013. The GMC replied (July 2013) that:
- At the time of tendering, the probable requirement of oxygen cylinders were worked out based on the consumption at that point of time. The consumption varied based on requirement at the hospital; and
- The trolleys entering the main manifold room through another entrance were not verified at the main gate. However the security staff stationed at the main manifold room entrance verified and received the same.
The reply was not acceptable as the requirement of oxygen was estimated based on the previous consumption of the hospital. Further, the claim that the cylinders received at the manifold room were checked by the security staff posted there is also not acceptable as no records were produced to substantiate the claim. If the trolleys entered the manifold room through another entrance other than the main gate without checks, then there exists a security breach which has to be plugged at the earliest. The Department in its written reply stated that the procedure adopted for monitoring of the delivery of the medical gases by the Hospital has been reviewed and further strengthened by deploying of additional staff.
Surprise checks are carried out by the Hospital Pharmacy and delivery quantities are verified.
The maintenance of the medical gases system at the Hospital has now been taken over by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation.
