On the 31st of May this year, the Bihar government awarded the Rs 1,600-crore ambulance contract to Patna-based Pashupatinath Distributors Private Limited (PDPL). The contract was awarded to PDPL to operate 2,125 ambulances as part of the Dial 102 Emergency service. Reportedly, the company, PDPL is run by the relatives of JD(U) MP from Jahanabad, Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi.
The State Health Society of Bihar (SHSB), an agency under the Health Department that handles the service, reportedly tweaked norms in the original Request for Proposals (RFP). These modifications were done to renew the 5-year ambulance contract with PDPL.
The Bihar government conveniently overlooked all the red flags
Despite many red flags, the RJD-JD(U) government decided to renew the contract with PDPL for another five years. The contract allows PDPL to run emergency ambulances across the state. Apart from this, it was for the first time that the state government added a new clause in the contract. This new clause allows it to extend the contract for another three years.
As per the Indian Express report, to renew PDPL’s contract, the Mahagathbandhan government brushed aside the cautious remarks of the Patna High Court. The coalition government also ignored a series of audits that had flagged irregularities with the company, like missing oxygen, giving expired medicine, allegations of “document leaks” and tweaking the norms of RFP.
The Indian Express report highlights that the original Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on the 5th of April, 2022. Afterward, several rules were changed or “tweaked” despite strong objections just to renew the multi-crore ambulance contrast to PDPL which has raised concerns of favouritism and malpractice.
Several directors of PDPL are family remembers of JD(U) MP Chandravanshi. These include Sunil Kumar, his son; Neha Rani, his daughter-in-law; Monalisha, his daughter-in-law; and Yogendra Prasad Nirala, his brother-in-law.
Allegations of changing rules, and Norms in RFP
According to the Indian Express report, the initial Request for Proposal (RFP) outlined certain requirements. In the case of a sole bidder, they were expected to have experience in operating and managing a minimum of 750 ambulances (in addition to 50 advanced life support ambulances). Another condition stated that the bidder should also be backed by a call centre with a minimum of 75 seats, operating continuously for three years since 2018-19.
Contrary to the conditions specified in the RFP, independently PDPL had no prior experience running ambulance services in Bihar. Also, it only had a call centre of 50 seats during the stipulated three years.
As per the report, the State Health Society of Bihar (SHSB) — an agency under the Health Department that handles the service, reduced the earlier specified numbers in RFP. Now, the minimum required capacity has come down from 50 Advanced Life Support ambulances to 40 and the call centre requirement from 75 seats to 50 seats.
IE report further highlighted that as per a corrigendum, a key term was changed in May 2022. In the RFP, the final selection parameter was changed from quality and cost-based selection to the least-cost selection method.
The initial RFP said, “The final selection of the agency/ bidder shall be as per Quality and Cost Based Selection (a standard practice in hiring an agency with good experience).”
The corrigendum said, “The final selection of the agency shall be as per the least cost selection method”.
Resultantly, after the corrigendum, the path was made clear for the lowest bidder.
Allegations of document “leaks”
Earlier, in July 2022, three RJD MLAs, Mukesh Kumar Roshan, Rishi Kumar, and Bhai Virendra, wrote a letter to the then-Bihar Health Minister BJP’s Mangal Pandey.
They alleged that the bidding documents got “leaked” and called for a fresh bidding process. However, on 9th August 2022, things changed and Nitish Kumar switched sides to form a grand coalition government with RJD and six other parties. Resultantly, Tejashwi Yadav became the Deputy CM and Health Minister of Bihar. Since then, no action has been taken in regard to their complaint.
When asked about the follow-up or action taken so far, RJD’s Maner MLA and party spokesperson Bhai Virendra told The Indian Express that he had done his part by raising the issue but now he has his own limitations as a politician.
Talking to Indian Express, JD(U) MP Chandravanshi said, “It (PDPL) is my relatives’ company and I have no personal say or stake in it.”
On the question of conflict of interest and allegations of favoritism in getting a government contract, he claimed that Nitish Kumar doesn’t favour anyone.
He said, “We all know Nitish Kumar, he does not favour anyone. PDPL is an established company that was in the petroleum, liquor trading, and transport business and got Dial 102 contract purely on merit. We are now established in ambulance services.”
Court Proceedings in regard to the contract
On the 8th of December, 2022, a two-judge-divisional bench of Patna High Court asserted that since the court is hearing the grievances of the petitioner, the tender may continue but no final decision should be taken by SHSB without leave of the court. The two-judge bench comprised Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sunil Dutta Mishra.
On the 10th of April, 2023, the state Advocate General PK Shahi requested the High Court to vacate its earlier order dated the 8th of December. AG Shahi also wanted the court to allow the contract to be given to the lowest bidder.
In response, the court inquired which of the two, PDPL or Samman, could carry out the new tender at a lower rate than the current one. Samman willingly agreed and submitted an affidavit affirming their willingness, whereas PDPL declined to do so.
Furthermore, on that very day, the court took notice of the complaint regarding document leaks. The court urged the SHSB to safeguard all the records. Additionally, the court asked the Administrative Officer to explain whether it was permissible for them to disclose specific material information.
A few days later, the court vacated its earlier order dated 8th of December. It stated that it stands modified to the extent that the lowest bidder is permitted to execute the work subject to the outcome of the present writ petition.
However, the consortium of BVG India and Samman went to the apex court and challenged this order. They claimed before the Supreme Court that Samman was not considered the lowest bidder despite its affidavit.
On the 15th of May, the SC bench of Justices A S Bopanna and C T Ravi Kumar made the ruling. It clearly stated that the High Court shall advert to all contentions and consider and dispose of the Writ Petition on its own merits and in accordance with the law.
The SC also directed the High Court to refer to its previous order dated the 10th of April in connection to awarding work to the lowest bidder. Furthermore, the Court mentioned that if the writ petition cannot be resolved immediately, the arguments presented by the petitioners should be taken into account after hearing all the parties involved.
Despite this, on the 31st of May, SHBS executive director Sanjay Kumar Singh wrote a letter to civil surgeons of all 38 Bihar districts.
He said, “Following interim orders of Patna High Court and legal opinion from learned advocate general, operationalisation and management of a fleet of ambulances and mortuaries vans through an integrated centralized call centre in the state of Bihar under public private partnership (PPP) mode, the contract is awarded to L-1 bidder M/s Pashupatinath Distributors Private Limited, Patna”.
When questioned about why he went ahead with the contract despite the court’s instructions to wait for the petition to be resolved, Singh explained that the state was incurring substantial losses of over Rs 2.5 crore per month due to the delay.
Singh said, “The state was running an estimated loss of over Rs 2.5 crore per month on account of the delay. So, we went ahead with PDPL, the lowest bidder. As for the SC order asking the Patna High Court to dispose of the matter, the order does not look clear. The SC order did not stay the HC order but asked to consider other aspects. Under these circumstances, we sought the opinion of the A-G and decided to award the provisional contract to PDPL. If the HC orders otherwise, we will comply accordingly.”
Everything about Dial 102 service and who covers the cost of it?
Dialing 102 is like calling for an ambulance when someone is in dire need of medical assistance. When you dial 102, an ambulance is dispatched to transport individuals who are critically ill, pregnant women, and babies to a government hospital, completely free of cost.
Under this service, there are two types of ambulances – Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS). A BLS ambulance has two people on board i.e. a driver and an emergency medical technician. While an ALS ambulance has three people to provide more specialized medical care. These include a driver, an emergency medical technician, and an assistant.
The ambulances are either owned by the Bihar government or by a consortium/private player. Between 2017 and 2022, the Bihar government provided 400 ambulances, while the PDPL-Samman consortium either rented or purchased 250 ambulances.
For government ambulances, the consortium receives a monthly payment of Rs 1.20 lakh, while for consortium ambulances, the government pays Rs 1.46 lakh per month. It is estimated that each ambulance generates around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 in revenue per month.
