Fresh Tender Soon For Paid Old Age Home In MP's Bhopal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Finding the service charges quoted by the previously selected agency impractical and its conditions inconsistent with the Request for Proposal (RFP), Social Justice Department has decided to issue a fresh tender for operating the Paid Old Age Home located in Bhopal. The new tender, which will include revised terms, is likely to be floated within a day or two.

According to department sources, the agreement could not be finalised with the selected agency, Sewa Bharti, as several of its conditions violated RFP norms.

Principal Secretary of the Social Justice Department, Sonali Ponkshe Vayangankar, told Free Press,“In order to bring down the service charge, some terms and conditions are being revised. Shortly, possibly in a day or two, a new tender will be floated to rope in an agency to operate the Paid Old Age Home.”

Sources in the Directorate of Social Justice said that Sewa Bharti had earlier shown interest in operating the home, which includes around 34 modern rooms. However, all three rates quoted by the institution for service charges exceeded ₹50,000, which was found to be unreasonable.

In its proposal dated May 5, 2025, the agency suggested depositing an amount equivalent to one year at 5% rate, instead of the required five-year agreement value.

Instead of depositing a performance guarantee of ₹71.75 lakh in one go, it proposed to pay ₹14.35 lakh per year, which was against the tender conditions.

Later, on May 27, Sewa Bharti submitted a 30-point agreement draft, but it was also found to violate the RFP conditions and the agreement was dropped.

Proposed changes

• Tender period to be reduced from five years to two, with the option to extend by one year at a time.

• Two-month deposit to be collected from senior citizens interested in staying.

• Vacant rooms may be temporarily allotted to needy senior citizens for one month.

• Use of facility for any purpose other than housing senior citizens to be prohibited.

• Amendments proposed to food and breakfast provisions.

• Likely reduction in staff strength from 80 persons