Neelu Ranjan, New Delhi. ICMR has banned the investigation of corona infects after it was found to have flaws in the Chinese rapid testing kit. States have been asked to return these kits so that they can be returned to Chinese firms. The relief is that no payment has been made to the kit supplier. Along with this, the ICMR has denied the allegation that the decision to buy Rs 600 per kit from the Chinese company was wrong. Kit has now taken political color as well. It has been accused of corruption by the opposition party. While giving full details from the government where the charge has been denied, it has also been decided to return the kit.
Cleaning on buying kit from Wondafo
Disclosing the process of purchasing rapid testing from Chinese company Wondafo Biotech, the ICMR said it should be viewed in the context of the Corona crisis when all countries are trying to buy the test. According to him, no supplier responded in the first attempt to buy rapid testing. After issuing the tender for the second time, it was claimed to be supplied by two companies named Wondafo and Biomedics. Not only this, these companies also showed the necessary certificates issued by international agencies for rapid testing kits. It was then decided to buy these testing kits.
Order issued to the supplier offering the lowest price
Four companies submitted tenders to supply Wondafo’s testing kit. These included Rs 1204, Rs 1200, Rs 844 and Rs 600 per kit. Apparently, this order was issued to the supplier offering the lowest price.
Purchase could not be possible due to strict conditions of the company
According to ICMR, in view of the huge difference between the price of the supplier and the company, an attempt was made to contact the company directly and buy the kit. But this was not possible due to the stringent conditions of the company. The company had four conditions. One, he will supply the kit near his factory and he will not be responsible to deliver it to India. Secondly, he will charge the full cost of the kit in advance and he will not take any guarantee that the kit is correct or defective. Thirdly, he will not be tied to any time line to supply the kit and fourth, he will take the entire amount in dollars, which will be free from fluctuations in the market value of the currency.
Contacted the only distributor from India
A senior ICMR official said that it was not possible for the company to buy the kit with these conditions. In particular, no data was available for the field results of rapid test kits. That is why Vondafo’s sole distributor in India was approached. The distributor did not ask for any advance from supplying the kit to India.
ICMR stated that this was the first attempt to buy such a kit and it was purchased from the lowest rated supplier. The biggest thing is that there was no loss to the government after the kit malfunction. If it was decided to buy the Wondafo company in advance, it would have sunk the entire amount today.
