MULTAN, Aug 1: Procurement of medicines worth Rs673m in the Punjab through 32 district governments under the devolution of power plan during the last fiscal year is inconceivable viz-a-viz the glaring difference of number of items procured in various areas.

For instance, Rahim Yar Khan district placed orders worth Rs25.18m for some 169 medicines, which was, the maximum number of items procured by a district in the Punjab. But, the Mandi Bahauddin district placed orderes only for 13 items (medicines) worth Rs 3.36m.

Here is the district-wise break-up of the number of items for which each of the 34 district placed orders against their estimated value in monetary terms: Rawalpindi, 93 (Rs23.02m); Sargodha, 31 (Rs33.36m); Faisalabad, 80 (Rs23.46); Sialkot, 140 (Rs20.23m); Gujrat, 115 (Rs18.69m); Jhang, 110 (Rs53.5m); Narowal, 73 (Rs12.01m); Toba Tek Singh, 112 (Rs12.5m); Gujranwala, 186 (Rs25.25m); Pakpattan, 64 (Rs9.43); Bahawalpur, 145 (Rs 17.19m); Chakwal, 158 (Rs 21m); Okara, 98 (Rs 18.5m); Hafizabad, 43 (Rs 7.14m); Rahim Yar Khan, 169 (Rs25.18m); Khushab, 141 (Rs11.06m); Bahawalnagar, 145 (Rs19.6m); Jhelum, 147 (Rs 12.66m); Attock, 28 (Rs 9.85m); Muzaffargarh, 83 (Rs 19.5m); Kasur, 131 (Rs 16.37m); Layyah, 66 (Rs 9.32m); Sheikhuprua, 120 (Rs 28.36m); Multan, 72 (Rs 10.46m); Mianwali, 98 (Rs 9.69m); Mandi Bahauddin, 13 (Rs 3.36m); Lodhran, 49 (Rs 6.6m); Vehari, 54 (Rs 12.16m); Rajanpur, 54 (Rs 7.31m); Bhakkar, 165 (Rs 18.58m); Sahiwal, 82 (Rs 20.97m); DG Khan, 62 (Rs 9.8m); Lahore, 81 (Rs 19.16m); and Khanewal, 104 (Rs 12.98m).

It may be added here that the allocation for the procurement of medicines for the year 2001-2002 was Rs 673m, but the total value of orders placed by the districts had been estimated as Rs 578m. This means that at least Rs 95m could not be utilized for the purpose.

Sources in the health department revealed that 80 per cent of the procurement orders were placed in haste in the last month of the fiscal so that to avoid the lapse of the funds.

Punjab was the only province which devolved the centralized procurement system for medicines by empowering districts to do the needful purchases at their own. But the provincial government did this without the enhancement of procurement powers of the local officials, such as, EDOs and DCOs by amending the purchase manual.

Keeping in view the limited financial powers of the officials entrusted with the task of procuring medicines, reputed national and multi-national prequalified firms escaped bidding, anticipating procedural snags in payments against the supplies.

Consequently, the EDOs (health) had to call and recall tenders to carry out the task but the reputed pharmaceutical firms’ response was rather lukewarm. After the passage of almost 11 months to the fiscal, the health authorities failed to finish the task of medicine procurement.

On one hand the firms were not ready to deal with district-level officials, the provincial authorities on the other were threatening them with ‘dire consequences’ in case they could not complete the task before the end of the financial year.

Resultantly, sources added, the rules and regulation had to be ignored and quotations of even ordinary whole-sale and distribution companies were accepted after grading them against the standing orders that only manufacturers in case of domestically-manufactured items and sole agents in case of imported products could only participate in the tenders.

While issuing purchase orders the mandatory clause of purchase manual regarding security deposit by the quoting firm was not taken care of. Similarly, rate contracts were not released allegedly in any of the districts. In many instances, brand name of products and their registration numbers and company name were not written which gave a free hand to the quoting firm to supply goods of any manufacturing firm.

Moreover, most of the medicines were supplied in commercial packing ignoring the government of Punjab’s approved clause of purchase order that the medicines should be supplied in multi-coloured green packing. Experts believed that the medicines supplied in commercial packing could easily be sold out in open market by the corrupt officials of the department.

The most glaring irregularity was reported that purchase orders were placed in urgency without getting the samples cleared from drug testing laboratory to know that whether they were original and fit for human use. At some places, payments were made without the DTL certificate.

In order to consume the budgets, the whole funds had been spent on the purchase of few items which on one hand would create bulk of an item while on the other some essential medicines would be missing from the stock.

The World Health Organisation recommends a list of almost 350 essential medicines for each hospital. Before the decentralisation of the procurement system, the provincial health department was used to procuring as many as 337 items enabling the state-run health facilities to have a better range of choices to provide maximum health cover to the patients.

Concerned health department officials believed that if a thorough and fair probe into the procurement of medicines might be initiated through the governor’s inspection team, gross irregularities and misappropriation of public money could be unearthed.

They suggested that as a first step the authorities could check how many tests were pending with the DTL while the authorities had made payments against them.