Dept defends tender rates for e-Hospital programme

The Health and Family Welfare department has stated that prices finalised in the tender for e-Hospital programme were competitive.

Reacting to a news item “Experts suspect scam in e-hospital scheme” which appeared in DH on Thursday, the department, in a statement has stated that market price comparison (with online prices) was performed during the commercial evaluation of the tender. On top of the market price, additional cost for other tender conditions including five years’ warranty was computed.

The news item mentioned that experts suspected irregularities in the purchase of equipment for implementation of the programme. The note from the department stated that tablets have been procured at the base price Rs 16,000 but the cost has increased because of the terms and conditions of the tender like preventive maintenance (once in two months) and 100 batteries replacement, insurance and installation.

“Besides, the technical committee considered all aspects of the e-Hospital project and agreed and cleared the rates to adhere to maintenance and Service Level Agreement for a period of five years,” it stated.