The Delhi government has selected a private company for tele-counselling of over 12,000 COVID-19 positive people, who are under home isolation, after the previous company’s service was cancelled by the Lt. Governor in June, according to officials.
“The new company was selected through an open tender and an MoU will be signed tomorrow [Friday],” an official source told The Hindu. The company will charge ₹315 per person for 10 days of tele-counselling, the source said.
Once a COVID-19 infected person, who is mild or asymptomatic, is placed under home isolation after physical verification by Delhi government officials, the private company will be in touch with the patients through telephone calls.
“The company will contact each patient at least once in a day and ask about their temperature and oxygen level among other details,” the source said. These details will be then conveyed back to the government.
The previous company’s service was cancelled as it was not selected through a tender and by nomination, according to officials.
Selection process
After it was cancelled, the Delhi government floated an open tender on July 2 inviting bids and on July 4 opened the tenders, in which four companies passed the technical qualification. On July 5, the government had a meeting and finalised the new company, which had the lowest bid.
“The company has been hired for three months with a provision to extend it for three more months,” the source said.
The previous company too had also applied but was not selected as it was not the lowest bidder.