The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the Union Education Ministry and the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) regarding a plea challenging online bids from firms currently enlisted for supplying items for the new ‘Jaadui Pitara’ kit developed by the organisation.
A vacation bench of Justice Amit Mahajan directed the Centre and the NCERT to submit a reply to the petition, which claims that the council established one-sided and biased eligibility criteria and other requirements for bidders in a corrigendum.
The petitioner, Samit Khanna, claims to meet all the criteria set by NCERT except for being an empanelled firm.
Khanna is the proprietor of Universal Sales involved in toy manufacturing and distribution since 2013 and is registered under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
The plea states that due to the one-sided criteria imposed by the second respondent (NCERT), the petitioner was unable to submit their techno-commercial bid.
It highlighted that the tender primarily involves toy items, which fall under the toy industry and toy manufacturers.
However, the current 23 empanelled companies, for which the tender is restricted, are manufacturers of scientific instruments, specifically science and mathematical kits.
The plea also mentions that the tender fails to specify the valid requirement of a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certificate for empanelled members, as per a government notification.
The plea alleged that the one-sided criteria established by the second respondent is completely contrary to the fundamental principles of transparency, fairness, competition, economy, efficiency, and accountability.
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