Allegations of favouritism have surfaced in a Rs 138 crore tender to buy school uniforms by the state School Education department. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh ages alleged that to favour textile manufacturers from Gujarat and Rajasthan, tender conditions have been drafted in such a way that Maharashtra based power loom cloth makers kept out and there is no reservation for them in the tender. The Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP) under the School Education department recently floated tenders1.20 crore meters of cloth for their free school uniform scheme. In a letter to CM Eknath Shinde, Shaikh has demanded that tender be scrapped and that the Maharashtra State Powerloom Corporation (MSPC) should be made the nodal agency for procurement.
Half of the country’s looms, i.e., 13 lakh, are in Maharashtra. However, the school education department wants to buy cloth from Rajasthan and Gujarat textile manufacturers. Conditions in tenders are such that the power loom owners in Maharashtra will stay away from this bid, Shaikh said.
A conspiracy was hatched in the tender to keep loom owners of Maharashtra away from this Rs 138 crore tender. The textile manufacturers who wanted to participate in the bid for cloth procurement should have productivity of 1 lakh meters per day, a three-year turnover of more than 55 lakhs, a one-time supply of at least Rs 60 lakhs, and how the loom owners of the state would be excluded from the tenders of the free uniform scheme. Due to these conditions, the loom owners of the state have been excluded from the tender, said Shaikh.
Officials said that the state government will provide free school uniforms to schools run by local bodies this academic year. Around 4.60 lakh students will get free uniforms under this scheme. For this purpose, a tender was issued for the procurement of 1.20 crore meters of cloth, which was open till February 15, an official said.
Shaikh has alleged that terms of tender are deliberately tweaked in favour of manufacturers outside the state. Shaikh said that the pre-bid meeting for the free school uniform tender was held on February 2 at the Mumbai office of the MPSP The conference was attended by a few local traders, along with traders from Gujarat and Rajasthan, according to Shaikh.
There are 1.3 lakh power loom machine operators in the state. It provides employment to 3.5 lakh people, and the handloom sector is the largest employment provider in the state after agriculture. The Department of Textiles has announced the new Textile Policy of the State for 2023. It has guaranteed the growth of the loom sector, officials said.
Officials said that they would look into allegations raised by Shaikh and check if there is any substance in them.
Shaikh further said that the tender with conditions for textile manufacturers outside the state should be scrapped, and the MPSC should be appointed as the nodal agency to procure cloth for the uniform scheme.
