Staff Report LAHORE: The Transparency International-Pakistan (TIP) has given a clean chit to the Punjab government in the procurement of 110,000 laptops being distributed among talented students of the province.
In a letter dated April 18, the TIP said that based on the elaborate clarification given by the Planning and Development (PandD) Board/ex-officio project manager, IT Labs Project, Punjab, the procedure has been adopted in accordance with the specifications and evaluation criteria.
The TIP appreciated the provincial governments detailed response to its letter in which the organization requested to follow the procedure in all procurements, which will result in awards of all contracts to lowest evaluated bid. It said that the TIP was striving for rule of law in Pakistan, which is the only way to eliminate corruption and have good governance.
The TIP letter quoted the provincial governments response, which for the procurement of 110,000 laptops a transparent procedure was followed as per the PPR 2009 and the final purchase cost of Rs 37,700 per piece was much below the market cost.
This price is inclusive of a backpack, air shipping, pre-shipment inspection, extended warranty for a period of 15 months, storage and inland transportation charges and delivery to educational institutions throughout Punjab, the reply said.