Speaker directs govt to probe food procurement for tribal hostels

Jaipur: Following sharp exchanges in the Assembly during Question Hour, Speaker Vasudev Devnani Wednesday directed the govt to conduct an investigation into alleged irregularities in procurement of food items for govt-run tribal hostels.Raising the issue, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully alleged that procurement norms were bypassed by granting purchasing powers to hostel wardens instead of inviting tenders for purchases exceeding Rs 50,000. "How can purchases above Rs 50,000 be made without a tender process? This opens the door to corruption," he said.
Pointing to variations in ghee prices — Rs 800, Rs 550 and Rs 408 per litre across different hostels — Jully added, "Such wide differences clearly indicate large-scale irregularities. A detailed probe is necessary."The matter came up while tribal area development minister Babulal Kharadi was replying to supplementary questions raised by Congress MLA Arjun Singh Bamaniya, who alleged discrepancies in billing and asked, "There are different rates in different hostels. I have the bills. Why were tenders not issued?"Responding to the allegations, Kharadi said, "The department directed hostels to procure food items from cooperative consumer stores. However, after 2 months, the cooperative stores expressed their inability to supply ration on time." He added, "To ensure that students received meals without disruption, hostels purchased food items from the open market."As exchanges grew heated, Speaker Devnani intervened and directed the minister, saying, "Please ensure a thorough investigation into the entire matter so that any irregularity is identified and such incidents do not occur in the future."