Kochi: The Local Fund Audit department has refused approval for Kochi Corporation spending Rs 26.9 lakh for installing sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators in schools because of gross irregularities.
The audit report for the financial year 2017-18 has recommended for a detailed probe into the project for which the civic body has already spent Rs 26.9 lakh.
The gross irregularity in implementing the project was evident from the fact that sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators have been found installed in boy’s schools, the report said.
The audit team found in records that SRV Government Higher Secondary School is having two vending machines and two incinerators even though only boys are studying in the high school section of the school.
Although records show two vending machines installed in the school, the audit team could not locate them. Two incinerators were kept locked in a toilet without any trace of being used.
Two vending machines and two incinerators were also found installed in Government HSS Panampilly Nagar despite the high-school section having only boys.
According to the school admission records for the academic year 2017-18, only a single girl student was on the school rolls.
The vending machines and incinerators in seven out of the 13 schools were dysfunctional. The installation of vending machines and incinerators was part of the ‘She Pad’ project providing sanitary napkins free of cost to girls by the state government in association with Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC) in 2016. Instead of joining with KSWDC, the city corporation decided to implement the project on its own. It floated an e-tender, and Malappuram-based Maria Hygiene Solutions won the contract.
The civic body purchased 72 napkin vending machines and 72 napkin pad incinerators at Rs 15,291.2 and Rs 18,508 per unit respectively. As part of the project, it purchased 7,200 napkin pads for Rs 4 a piece. The audit report states that despite spending lakhs of rupees, the working group concerned took no measures to monitor implementation and ensure the machines worked properly. The civic body has also failed to take the security deposit from the vendors.
