Namakkal: The state government has finally reformed the system of procurement of eggs for the noon-meal scheme to make the process more transparent and do away with anomalies. Much to the joy of poultry farmers, the government has allowed only them to participate in the tender process that will be floated once in six months, unlike earlier when the orders were placed for full year and middlemen were allowed to participate.
It has also done away with the centralised system of procurement of eggs and divided the state into six zones, where tenders would be floated separately. However, only those poultry farmers with an average annual turnover of not less than Rs 10 crore in the past three years could participate in the tender process. However, they could also participate in the tender by forming a consortium consisting of not more than three producers of eggs/poultry farmers, with each one having a capacity to produce a minimum of one lakh eggs per day and whose combined average annual turnover is not less than Rs 10 crore.
A K P Chinraj, president, Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers Association, welcomed the new egg procurement policy and thanked chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, electricity minister P Thangamani and social welfare minister V Saroja for overhauling the system.
It is to be noted that for the noon-meal scheme the state government procures nearly 3.20 crore eggs a week. Earlier, the government used to procure eggs from the concerned district egg suppliers. But, the system was changed in 2011. Instead of procuring eggs district wise, it assigned a private company to procure eggs for all the government and government-aided schools across the state.
Now, the government is expected to float a fresh tender on September 5 based on the new procurement policy. What to wait for is differential pricing, as authorities have divided the state into six zones.
Source:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/