DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Acting on the directions of the Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann for revamping the various policies/procedures in the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, the Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak today gave approval to the revised Tender specifications for purchase of Tarpaulins used to protect paddy stocks against inclement weather. The revised tender Terms and Conditions have now been brought broadly in sync with the Terms and Conditions approved by the FCI for its own purchases across the country. In order to encourage new entrepreneurs, the policy has now done away with the experience clause, opening the doors for new industrial units to bid for the tenders. Further, in order to encourage wider participation, suppliers, who are authorised by the Principal Manufacturers, have also been allowed to participate in the tender process. This is expected to increase the competition since it was felt that manufacturers, who are located far away, often did not participate in the tender process. The minimum quantity of tarpaulins to be offered by the bidder has been reduced in order to encourage smaller industries to participate in the tender process. The tenders shall continue to be called on the e-tendering website of Punjab Government to ensure complete transparency. Comprehensive inspection protocols have also been introduced to check the quality of the Tarpaulins being supplied. These include inspections in both factory premises as well as delivery point, making these protocols even more stringent than those adopted by FCI. Recognising the monetary benefit of the existing specifications for Tarpaulins, which provide for usage of 2 years,, the state specifications have been retained. It may be noted that for the past many years, the Punjab Government has it's own specifications for Tarpaulins, which offer a significant financial saving to the Government over Tarpaulins purchased with FCI specifications, which having a life span of only |one year. Herein it may be noted that a few months back, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had, in a meeting to review the working of the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, directed the department to comprehensively review and revamp the existing policies and purchase procedures existing within the department to make these more transparent and competitive. (editor@dailyworld.in)