Punja Govt shelling out Rs 16 crore extra annually for de-addiction pill

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, July 20

The Punjab Government is shelling out Rs 16 crore extra to purchase a de-addiction drug, buprenorphine, every year. The fact came to the fore recently, when the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) came across the rate contract of the same medicine with the Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

CONVINCING SUPPLIERS TO REDUCE RATES

The issue is in our knowledge. We are trying to convince the suppliers to bring down the prices. Otherwise, we will float fresh tenders to save the government money. Neelima, MD, Punjab Health System Corporation

As per the information available with The Tribune, the PHSC had entered in a rate contract with suppliers for Rs 6.52 per tablet. The state government purchases six crore tablets every year for de-addiction and OOAT clinics.

Notably, as per the expansion in the de-addiction infrastructure and the opening of new OOAT clinics, the demand by end of this year is likely to touch 10 crore tablets. Going by that demand, the Health Department will be able to save Rs 27 crore every year. This amount is sufficient to fund the supply of medicine to the upcoming over 200 mohalla clinics. As per the government estimates, the annual budget for the supply of medicine to each mohalla clinic will be around Rs 7 lakh.

The issue came to the fore when the government started the process to procure medicines for the Punjab State Aids Control Society, where it was found that the price quoted by the suppliers was much less than that for the PHSC. Later, it was found that Delhi’s AIIMS was purchasing the same medicine for Rs 3.75 per tablet. Thus, despite purchasing the medicine in bulk, the state ending up paying Rs 16 crore extra every year to the suppliers.

When contacted, PHSC Managing Director Neelima said: “The issue is in our knowledge. We are trying to convince the present suppliers to bring down their rates. Else, we will float fresh tenders to save the government money.”

Earlier The Tribune had reported that how in violation of the norms, the PHSC had awarded a contract worth over Rs 52 crore to two firms for supplying de-addiction medicine despite the suspected “price pooling” by the latter. What had raised the eyebrows was that two remotely located companies, one operating from Mumbai and the other from Gujarat, quoted the same price i.e. Rs 65.52 per strip.

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