Mumbai: The BMC has invited tenders from contractors for the supply of cooked vegetarian food to patients in 10 peripheral hospitals. However, concerns have been raised on the tender's penalty clause, as per which substandard or unsafe food would attract a mere Rs1,000 fine. If the plan materialises, the outsourced food will be served to around 1,600 patients daily.
Experts argued that such a nominal penalty is inadequate to ensure food safety and accountability. They asserted that the weak punitive clauses could undermine the very goal of ensuring safe, hygienic meals for patients in the BMC hospitals. The decision reflects a growing trend toward privatisation of essential public health services, they added. The civic body plans to provide morning and evening meals, including diabetic, hypertension, salt-free, salt-restricted and RT feed diets, along with breakfast and tea.
To qualify, bidders must have a minimum of three years’ experience in supplying cooked food to at least 700 patients in government hospitals and a turnover exceeding Rs11 crore over the past three years. All food business operators are required to possess valid licenses from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and comply with hygiene norms under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
A key feature of the tender is a 50% reservation for registered 'mahila sansthas' (women organisations), provided they match the lowest bid and meet all technical and legal criteria.The tender also allows hospitals to procure food from nearby caterers if a contractor fails to deliver, with 15% supervision charges recoverable from the erring supplier’s bill.
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