Vadodara: A major procurement scam has rocked the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) after it emerged that the fire and emergency services department paid a whopping ₹3,639.71 each for basic items such as pocket knives, gas lighters, mosquito nets, and water bottles.

The scam is not just about the exorbitant prices, but also about the identical pricing of completely unrelated items — a detail that went unnoticed. Following the revelation, the civic body suspended three officials, including Chief Fire Officer Manoj Patil, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Naitik Bhatt, and Dr. Devesh Patel, the then head of the fire department and currently Medical Officer (Health).

The ₹3.17 crore procurement was undertaken via the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to expand fire services and enhance disaster preparedness, particularly in flood-prone areas. Despite oversight from a third-party inspection (TPI) agency, the VMC audit wing, and the standing committee, several items were allegedly procured at highly inflated prices.

Among the controversial purchases were 16 emergency whistles priced at ₹3,238.73 each, 16 rucksacks at ₹10,919 each, and 16 pocket knives, lighters, and mosquito nets — all billed at ₹3,639.71 apiece.

It is understood that the TPI agency was only responsible for verifying specifications and quality, while the audit department focused on documentation and billing — not pricing — which may have allowed the inflated costs to slip through the cracks.

VMC Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu confirmed that the civic body is reviewing its procurement processes and will issue new guidelines to prevent similar lapses. “Some of the prices are evidently inflated. The full extent will be known once the departmental inquiry concludes,” he said. DeshGujarat