Empowered panel formed for purchases to fight virus

Thiruvananthapuram: The government has formed a five-member committee consisting of secretaries and senior officials who have been empowered to negotiate with suppliers for any purchases relating to the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
The empowered committee consists of secretary (home, vigilance and finance expenditure) Sanjay Kaul, secretary (transport) Biju Prabhakar, transport commissioner P B Nooh, managing director of Kerala medical services corporation limited (KMSCL) D Balamurali, joint transport commissioner Rajeevan Puthalath and director of factories and boilers P Pramod.
The empowered committee will assist KMSCL in negotiating with the suppliers and finalizing the tenders by utilizing the relaxation in the stores purchase rules for emergency Covid purchases. The committee was formed as it was found necessary to take urgent and timely decisions, without having to go through every rule and procedure, by considering the ongoing critical situation of Covid-19 pandemic. In the meeting of secretaries chaired by the chief secretary on Friday, it was generally opined that several steps, including arranging and lifting of oxygen from outside the state, taking decision on engaging tankers for transporting oxygen, etc, have become extremely critical. It was decided that a committee that is empowered for such matters should be constituted immediately for taking swift decisions on such matters.