Hyderabad: The baby beds that are handed out with ‘KCR kits’ to new mothers do not meet the prescribed standards, according to a complaint filed with the managing director of the Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
The bed must be made of cotton or soft woven material that is used to make baniyans, but those being provided with KCR kits have polypropylene, the complainant, S.J. Subbaraj Spinning Mills Limited, alleged. This is not as per prescribed norms, the company said, and alleged that the vendor was trying to cut costs to increase profit.
Asked about the complaint, a corporation officer said: “The first tender was cancelled on March 25 and second tender was finalised online on April 12. The norms were cleared online and the mandatory surety deposit was taken. A meeting was held later to finalise the three vendors who are to supply 11,000, 54,000 and 7,000 kits. But there are already complaints about the quality of the beds.”
Objections were filed against three vendors in the first tender but of them — Maa Yarn and Fibres and Kendriya Bhandar — were given the contracts despite allegedly facing complaints.
A corporation officer said that two vendors faced allegations that they had neither submitted authorisation details nor had the infrastructure to provide the kits. “But they convinced the senior management in the second tender and bagged most of the contract,” the official said. The two vendors will supply 11,000 and 54,000 kits. Corporation managing director Venu Gopal Rao did not answer calls despite many attempts.
