RG Kar financial scam: CBI unearths major flaws in medicine procurement system

Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials probing the financial irregularities in R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata have detected severe flaws in the medicine procurement system of the medical facility under its former principal Sandip Ghosh.

Sources aware of the development said that during the process of procurement of medicines from outside agencies, the essential aspect of the technical evaluation of all the bidders was ignored.

As per protocol, the technical evaluation is the first step in shortlisting the bidders based on their relevant expertise and reputation in the supply of medicines to reputed medical institutions.

The bidders shortlisted through this technical evaluation system are supposed to be allowed in the second stage or financial aspect of the bidding, where one shortlisted bidder quoting the lowest bidding price is awarded the contract.

This technical evaluation part is the most important in such cases since the patients' health depends on the items the bidders will supply.

However, the sources added, the investigating officials have come across incriminating documents which reveal that the first step of the technical evaluation was hardly followed at R.G Kar under Ghosh's command,

Bidders, even without any remote capability of qualifying in the technical evaluation process, were allowed to step into the second stage, the sources added.

In most cases, the sources said, the tenders were awarded to such non-eligible bidders just because they quoted the lowest bidding price.

Several R.G. Kar insiders including some post-graduate trainees have informed the investigating official that their repeated alerts directly to Ghosh about the quality of the medicines supplied were ignored.

The investigating officials have also come to know that the junior doctor who was raped and murdered within the hospital premises in August was extremely vocal about the quality of the medicines.