While there has been plenty of talk about the lack of adequate PPE or personal protective equipment for healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) recently said that it has a stock of around 2.5 lakh PPEs. The BMC has now announced that it will stop purchasing any further PPEs and the authorities will reportedly float a tender for the same when the current stock is exhausted.
A recent report by Mumbai Mirror revealed that the BMC was paying Rs 207 extra per PPE, which also included an N95 mask. Further, the combined cost of all the items doesn’t exceed the price paid by the BMC.
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Keeping this in mind, the decision to scrap new purchases seems wise from an economic perspective. Prior to this revelation, it is said that the BMC bought 5,000 masks per day by paying a higher cost.
Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC, P Velrasu has reportedly asked all hospitals and BMC departments to provide a detailed purchase list of PPEs bought since April 30. The prices paid for each PPE, as well as the information of the supplier, have been sought.
Of the 2.5 lakh PPEs that the BMC claims to have, 75,000 have been reportedly kept in reserve while the rest are currently in operation across its wards.
BJP MLA Ameet Satam had previously voiced concerns about the rising costs of PPEs in the region. Speaking on the latest decision, he said, “The BMC just scrapped the tender after we raised objections and pointed to a potential scam. I will raise this issue at the next session of the state legislature. Every single purchase is riddled with irregularities. The BMC has wasted lakhs of rupees of public money on overpriced PPE kits.”
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