As you enter the office of IAS Neha Giri, managing director of Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL), photo frame of preamble of the Constitution of India greets you. This gives a feeling that all the work in her office is governed by the Constitution without any bias and favours.
A firm believer of Mahatma Gandhi, Neha Giri is considered an upright, innovative officer. Since she joined RMSCL in February 2024, she has been busy bringing more and more transparency in the system.
RMSCL, the centralised procurement agency for buying generic medicines, surgical and sutures and medical equipments for state government, needs to work with utmost confidentiality. For that Giri first restricted the entry of unauthorised persons in the office premises. Even officials have to wear identity cards around their necks.
“Since we deal with procurement, our office is tasked with preparing tenders. We have to maintain secrecy and confidentiality for fair bidding process. It can't be possible unless we restrict access to unauthorised people. Even visitors need to flash visiting passes issued after due diligence on their visits,” she said.
Neha Giri fixes step wise TaT for bidding process
Giri, a 2010 batch officer, has fixed step-wise turnaround time (TaT) for every tender to ensure that tenders and expressions of Interest (EoI) never miss timelines. “We are accountable for procurement of medicines and biomedical equipments for medical colleges, government hospitals and other health centres. We need to buy them in time so that there is no shortage. We need to fulfil our responsibility,” she said.
RMSC among few profit making PSUs
This year the state government has allocated budget of Rs 2,200 crore for the corporation. On every purchase of medicines the corporation gets 5% service charge, which is used to meet the expenses.
“Since we are a corporation, we need to generate income and profits as other corporations do. We are among few state-owned corporations which make profit. We also spend a part of our profit on activities under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),” she said.
An engineering graduate, Neha Giri had been collector of districts like Bundi, Pratapgarh and Dholpur. Apart from that she has also served as special secretary in industries department and additional commissioner Bureau of Investment Promotion (BIP) among other portfolios.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.