Tourism Dept receives objections citing biased eligibility criteria favouring present contractor
PANAJI
The Goa Tourism Department, which has floated a beach lifesaving tender worth around Rs 700 crore has run into rough weather after only one qualified bidder -- the existing operator Drishti Marine turned up for the pre bid meeting that was held on Tuesday, while another operator showed up but instead filed a list of objections, sources said.
The Goa Tourism Department had floated a tender vide notice dated September 20, 2024 for a period of five years calling on companies willing to offer “lifeguarding services with highest standards” including the planning and deployment of requisite manpower including lifeguarding personnel, beach marshal etc. and equipment and all necessary safety, medical, transport and allied equipment which are essential for the safety of the rescued and rescuer; with the objective to provide accident free and safe beaches. The services also include safety equipment, dress codes, safety gears and all other allied items required for services.
However, a condition in the tender mandates that to be eligible to bid, a prospective agency will have to have at least three years of paid (open water) lifeguarding experience in India and be only of Indian origin making Drishti Marine, the only eligible bidder.
According to the tender document for a consortium to be eligible, it should consist of a group of Indian bidding companies not exceeding two members coming together to implement the work. The bidder could be organisations/ firms working and registered in India.
However, Drishti Marine being the only Indian agency offering paid open water lifeguarding services, other potential bidders are likely to be automatically disqualified.
According to people familiar with the tender process, during the previous lifeguarding tenders undertaken in 2011 and 2014 that since it was a global tender international agencies were allowed to bid as part of a consortium with the lead partner in the consortium being an Indian entity with technology transfer being allowed.
“Since the tender is a ‘global tender’ international agencies should also be permitted to bid provided that they are a minority technical partners and service providers and not the lead bidder which can continue to be a company of Indian origin having done ‘similar works’ and meeting the required financial eligibility criteria,” the source said.
CAG guidelines also allow for seeking foreign partners for services & infrastructure is permitted and recommended to be 21% or less as the case may be and does not warrant 51% equity ownership. This is not a restricted / controlled / defence / national security contract.
Drishti Marine, have been providing beach lifeguarding services along the state’s beaches for the last 15 years, while the current contract has come to an end, the agency has been asked by the government to continue till the bids are opened and a new agency is found.
Potential bidders have also raised other conditions of the tender, which they say are skewed in favour of the existing service provider including the need to provide a robotic patrolling vehicle, something that Drishti claims to have but whose intent, purpose and key functions it performs have not been specified.
Similarly, the tender specifies the need to set up Triton AI cameras to assist in lifeguarding, which is an open source AI platform for developers also used by Drishti Marine. However the tender does not specify functionality of the system, needed to be set up, the results it needs to deliver, its deployment or just a security / vigilance system for crowd monitoring.
