PANJIM: If ever an official acceptance was needed to acknowledge irregularities and manipulations of tenders for medical equipment and supplies at the Goa Medical and Dental college, it came from the Chief Minister on November 7, 2013, writing on a file concerning a tender for the Dental college he remarked (file and his notings are in the possession of Herald) “There are many complaints in respect to the materials in Dental college as a result of which the students are forced to buy the material from the open market. Tender takes (a) long time to decide and there are reasons to believe that many times manipulations are carried out to include or exclude an agency. This is the story of Dental and GMC for past almost 20 years but on (the) rise during last 7-8 years.
This particular noting assumes significance, in many contexts but not more than the recent removal of the Dean of the Goa Dental College, whose relieving orders were issued less than a week after she blocked the Annual Maintenance Contract for the upkeep of dental chairs, with Akshaya Dental Trading Company (ADTC) Ponda. Herald reported the move to remove her and followed it up with a story, on Tuesday August 19, on the correspondence centered around ADTC in the weeks preceding her removal. (The government claims that her removal was as per the rotation policy for HoDs of the government).
Dr Ataide, a highly respected and popular dentist and Dean had questioned the terms of the one sided contract proposed by the supplier (the Dental college).
The Chief Minister, reacting to the first story on Dr Ataide’s removal had told Herald, “There is a mess in the Dental college that needs to be cleaned up. Suppliers had a stranglehold in the regime of the previous Health Minister.”
The CM’s statement read with his file noting quoted above, should mean that his government is on the path to cleaning up the system and eradicating suppliers who have maintained a stranglehold on the department. But the ground realities are otherwise. Without casting any aspersions on ADTC or its business your newspaper is placing certain facts and asking certain questions.
a)If the CM himself noted that tender manipulations take place in GMC and Dental college, why has he not taken note of the fact that this one supplier ADTC held sway during the last Congress regime and has been in the scheme of things in all regimes.
b) Why did the Health department show undue interest in following up on an annual maintenance contract for Rs 23 lakh, proposed by then same supplier (ATDC) to be issued by the Dental College without following due process, and that too for dental chairs that were nearing the end of their life cycle.
c) Will the removal of Dr Ataide as Dean of Dental College, remove the stranglehold of suppliers or their manipulation or actually increase?
These are questions that we ask readers to ask and the Chief Minister to answer.
