Mumbai V. Konkan Vibhagiya Mahila Aydyogik Utpadak Sahakari Sanstha Mahasangh Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra and Ors.

11. That the Government of India issued the detailed Operational Guidelines for Food Safety and Hygiene in ICDS on 24.12.2013, copy whereof is enclosed herewith as Annexure R-1. These guidelines provide the broad contours of Food Safety measures in ICDS and include separate Sections on general principles for maintenance of cleanliness, hygiene at Anganwadi centers and manufacturing units, precautionary measures, handling emergencies and cases of chemical poisoning and easy to follow simple protocols for food handling at different stages.” (Emphasis supplied)

8. The paragraph 33 of the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court lists out measures set out in said affidavit dated 6th August, 2018 to be taken for maintaining hygiene and sanitation at the Anganwadi Centres and for maintaining food safety. The said paragraph 33 of the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court is reproduced herein below for ready reference:bdp “33. It has also been pointed out in the affidavit on behalf of the Government of India dated 06.08.2018 that the guideline prescribes the following measures for maintaining hygiene and sanitation at the Anganwadi centers and ensuring food safety: a) Food Handling and Safety Measures for Hot Cooked meal and Morning Snack which includes transportation, procurement, storage, food safety, safety while cooking and serving, disposal of leftover, monitoring, and supervision, quality assurance, etc. b) Guidelines for Food Safety and Hygiene in Take Home Ration which includes location, surrounding and building, drainage and waste disposal, washing facilities, storage, etc. c) Food Handling and Safety Measures for THR which includes procurement, processing, packaging, quality assurance. d) To prevent contamination of Supplementary Nutrition, all equipment and utensils must be cleaned and disinfected. e) Adequate precautions must be taken to prevent the food item from being contaminated during cleaning or disinfecting of rooms, equipment or utensil, by use of water, detergents or disinfectants. f) Floors and drains must not be cleaned whilst the food is being prepared. g) Detergents and disinfectants must be suitable for the purpose and any residues of these agents on a surface which may come in contact with food item must be removed by thorough rinsing with potable water before the area or equipment is used again. h) Immediately at the end of the day's work, floors (including drains), structures and walls of food handling areas must be thoroughly cleaned. i) Toilets must be kept clean and tidy at all times. bdp j) Provision of safe disposal of stool and wastes must be made. k) Nearby outside area/surroundings must also be kept clean and tidy. l) Regular pest control measures should be adopted at the Anganwadi centers. However, before pesticides are applied, care must be taken to protect people, food, equipment and utensils from contamination. m) Substances which could contaminate food must not be used or stored in food handling areas n) The personal hygiene standard of food handlers at kitchen, AWW/AWH includes a high standard of personal cleanliness, freedom from infectious diseases and a sufficient standard of hygiene. o) The state may ensure that AWWs/AWHs are in good health and all staff enrolled for the supply of food items must be adequately trained in good hygiene practices. p) Hands must always be washed before entering the foods handling area immediately after using the toilet, after handling contaminated material and whenever necessary.” (Emphasis supplied)

9. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in paragraph 34 observed as under:- “34. It has also been pointed out by the Secretary in the affidavit dated 06.08.2018 that Supplementary Nutritional Programme (for short 'SNP') is implemented, managed and controlled by the respective States/UTs, it is at their discretion to decide items of food to be supplied under the supplementary nutrition as the local food habits, regional preferences and availability of food in the local area vary from place to place. However, this is to be done by keeping in view the overall guidelines, nutritional norms and food safety standards, a copy of some of the suggestive recipes prepared by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, has been placed on record as Annexure R-2.” (Emphasis provided) bdp

10. The said policy of the Union of India as set out in the affidavit dated 6th August, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as ‘2018 policy’) specifically makes reference to the guidelines issued on 24th December,

2013. The said guidelines dated 24th December, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as “2013 Guidelines”) are framed by the Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development from the point of view of food safety, food hygiene and safe food handling. The said guidelines specifies various measures particularly the manner in which the hygiene and sanitation should be maintained at the Anganwadi Centers kitchen cum store should be kept, food should be stored, quality should be assured etc. The said guidelines also provides for storage facilities to keep the raw material, storage of food material and packaging of the food. The measures to be taken are set out in detail regarding procuring of raw material for production of Take Home Ration (THR), transportation of raw ingredients/processed food, processing of the food, the manner of packaging and distribution etc. It is provided that the State/District (ICDS) Officials should monitor and supervise.

11. We have set out in detail the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, details of said “2018 policy” and “2013 Guidelines” as it is the main contention of the petitioner that the terms and conditions of the bdp impugned tenders are violative of the same.

12. Before considering the grievance of the petitioner we deem it appropriate to set out the steps taken by the Government of Maharashtra to implement the aforesaid decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The State Government filed affidavit of Child Development Project Officer and Nodal Officer, Mumbai Suburban District dated 5th November, 2020 pointing out the steps taken by the State Government to implement the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The State Government in the affidavit has stated that there are 553 urban, rural and tribal projects and 109000 Anganwadi centers under the scheme of Integrated Child Development Service Scheme in the State. It is stated that the total beneficiaries are 79,55,435.

13. In paragraph 9 of the affidavit filed by the State Government, various steps taken pursuant to the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court are set out. It is stated that the tenders for micronutrient fortified blended Take Home Rations as well as ready to eat premixes have been cancelled. The work orders of the 18 agencies supplying Take Home Rations were cancelled forthwith and their supplies stopped immediately. Alternative arrangements for supply of bdp Take Home Rations as well as Hot Cooked Meals have been made through supplies from Maharashtra State Co-operative Consumers Federation Limited and the fresh tenders for supply of Take Home Rations as well as Hot Cooked Meals have been invited on a decentralized scale in all districts of the State.

14. It is further stated in the Affidavit-in-reply that the Government of Maharashtra constituted High Power Committee for the fixation of the terms and conditions of the tenders to be invited for supply of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home Rations in Anganwadi, pursuant to the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 26th February, 2019. The said High Power Committee is consisting of Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra (Chairman), Additional Chief Secretary, Planning Department (Member), Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supply (Member), Secretary, Law and Judiciary Department (Member), Secretary, Women and Child Development Department (Member), Commissioner, Integrated Child Development Service Scheme, Maharashtra State (Member-Secretary). It is pointed out in the affidavit that the tender conditions have been fixed by the said High Power Committee and the said tender conditions are applicable to all Districts of Maharashtra State. bdp

15. It is further stated in the Affidavit-in-reply that e-tender process was implemented from August 2019 onwards in the entire State of Maharashtra by floating the tenders containing the terms and conditions as finalized by the said High Power Committee. It is further stated that three corrigendum were issued relaxing the tender conditions by corrigendum dated 16th August, 2019, 28th August, 2019 and 27th September, 2019. It is stated that in rest of Maharashtra in urban project total 856 Mahila Mandals/Bachat Gat are already selected under the said tender process.

16. It is very clear that the High Power Committee constituted as aforesaid has formulated the terms and conditions of the said tenders and the said tender conditions are the same for the entire State of Maharashtra and in rest of Maharashtra in urban project already 856 Mahila Mandals/Mahila Bachat Gats are selected. As far as Mumbai Suburban District is concerned, first tender (hereinafter referred to as ‘the First Tender’) was invited on 24th August, 2019 and procedure of the said tender was completed on 30th September, 2020. It has been pointed out that total 216 of Self Help Group/Mahila Mandals/Mahila Bachat Gats are selected in Mumbai Suburban District. bdp

17. It is further stated in the Affidavit-in-reply filed on behalf of the State Government that on 6th and 7th October, 2020, the further tenders were invited for vacant areas which had remained vacant after completion of the first tender process (hereinafter referred to as “the Second Tender”). We have set out this in detail as in the Writ Petition no reference is made to the “First Tender” and the “First Tender process” and impression is created that “the Second Tender” i.e. impugned tenders are the “First Tenders”. It is surprising that the petitioner who claims to be the Federation of the Women Self-help Group operating in Mumbai and further claims that 217 societies of Women in Mumbai are members of the petitioner are not aware about the “First Tender” issued for the Mumbai City on 24th August, 2019 and the said First Tender procedure was completed on 30th September, 2020 and about 216 Self Help Group/Mahila Mandals/Bachat Gats are selected in the said First Tender process.

18. It has also been pointed out in the Affidavit-in-reply that as far as the tender procedure in the rest of Maharashtra area is concerned, certain conditions of the said Tender were challenged by 5 Mahila Bachat Gats before the Aurangabad Bench of this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 11053 of 2019. This Court by judgment and order dated 13th December, 2019 after going through the entire tender procedure bdp and after examining various judgments of the Hon’ble Apex Court has held that, the High Court while exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot sit as an Appellate Authority over the Administrative Authorities. The doctrine of fairness evolved in Administrative Law was not suppose to convert the Writ Court into Appellate Authorities over the Administrative Authorities.

19. It is further held that non-arbitrariness and fairness is the basic requirement of Article 14. The judicial review is intended to prevent arbitrariness and to check whether the decision is made lawfully and not to check whether the decision is sound. If the process adopted or the decision made by the authority is not malafide and not intended to favour someone or is neither so arbitrary nor irrational, no interference under Article 226 is warranted. It is held that in the matter of formulating conditions of tender document and awarding a contract, greater latitude is required to be conceded to the State Authorities. The Court does not have the expertise to substitute its own decision or to correct administrative decision but merely reviews the manner in which the decision was made. It is further held that if the State or its instrumentalities act reasonably, fairly and in public interest and if the decision is free from arbitrariness, not affected by bias or actuated by malafides, interference by Court is not warranted. bdp

20. It is also stated in the said judgment that the High Power Committee has formulated and approved the tender conditions and that members of the Committee are expert in the said field. It is significant to note that all these observations are made from the point of view of certain other conditions of the tender, which were challenged in the said writ petition but the tender procedure and the terms and conditions of the tender which this Court (Aurangabad Bench) was considering and the terms and conditions of the impugned tenders are identical.

21. It is held in the catena of decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court that Article 226 of the Constitution of India the Writ Court should not sit as Appellate Court over the Administrative decisions if the decision is not malafide or arbitrary.

22. The objections raised by Dr. Warunjikar to certain terms and conditions of the impugned Tenders are required to be examined in light of the above factual and legal background.

23. It is the main contention of Mr. Warunjikar that the condition prescribing that local resident should be the member of the Women Self Help Group as per tender condition no. 2 cannot be implemented in bdp Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The said condition of local resident is incorporated in these Tenders, pursuant to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as contained in paragraph 52 of the aforesaid judgment dated 26th February, 2019. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has in clear terms held that by fixing of unit area as a District, several players have been effectively ousted from the field and therefore it would be appropriate to form groups of the area such as at panchayat or group of panchayats etc, within the District so that the real intention behind the policy is fulfilled in its real sense and supply should be decentralized as much as possible.

24. Apart from the said direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in fact in the city like Mumbai where the traffic congestion is maximum, the local resident should be awarded tender as the local resident will be in a better position to supply the Take Home Ration/Hot Cooked Meal to the beneficiaries. The said condition no. 2 about which grievance is raised by the petitioner specifically states that the said condition is incorporated as per the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It is stated in the affidavit-in-reply that the intention behind this clause is that the beneficiaries of the Anganwadis should get hot and fresh cooked meal as the same are perishable items and required to reach Anganwadis on time and fresh. Such condition thus cannot be faulted. bdp

25. In fact it is very strange that the petitioner who claims to be the Federation of 217 Women Self-Help Group is challenging the said condition. Such Women Self-Help Group normally operates in local area and mostly the women associated with such groups are from lower strata of the society and fetching some income from such activities for their sustenance or additional income to support their family. These women, mostly by balancing their household work carry on said work for earning some income. Such women will prefer work near their residence. If the entire Mumbai City is considered as one unit then such genuine Women Self-Help Groups will be deprived from participating in the tender and in fact that will help big players/industrialists etc to capture tender for entire Mumbai City. It is surprising that petitioner has impugned such condition. In any case, the said condition was incorporated pursuant to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the same is formulated by the High Power Committee. There is no arbitrariness in formulating such condition. The petitioner could not demonstrate that any of the tender condition is malafide or arbitrary.

26. The further conditions challenged are regarding 1 year’s experience, bank balance of average of Rs.10,000, to have store room and transport facility, no provision for escalation and no interest, the bdp condition of having kitchen in the local area, conditions regarding menu and amount fixed per person, per beneficiary etc. As set out herein above, all these conditions are formulated by the High Power Committee which is the expert committee. The said conditions are formulated by taking into consideration “2018 policy”, “2013 guidelines” and the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court. This Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot re-write the terms and conditions of the tender.

27. The State of Maharashtra in the affidavit in reply particularly in paragraph 17 has given the explanation regarding each of the tender conditions which are objected by Mr. Warunjikar. The condition wise explanation given in the affidavit-in-reply is as follows:-

(i) Condition no. 2 - The intention of the National Scheme is involvement of mothers of the beneficiaries and local women with the intent of provisioning of good quality hot and fresh meals to the beneficiaries. The sole intention behind this clause is that the beneficiaries of the Anganwadis should get hot and fresh cooked meal as this is a perishable item and it has to reach Anganwadis on time and fresh. Taking into consideration the traffic situation in Mumbai and also that if member of Mahila Mandal or self-help group is a local resident, it will be convenient for /them to prepare food in the kitchen on time & hence the clause of local residents and kitchen has been put. Hon’ble Supreme Court has directed to allot the work to local Self Help Group Mahila Mandals and hence, Government has fixed the norms for eligibility and made it mandatory for the Mahila Mandals to be registered in the particular project area where the Anganwadi Centers bdp are located.

(ii) Condition no. 8- As the work involves the supplies to children from 6 months to 6 years of age group as well as Pregnant and Lactating Women, hence it is necessary that Mahila Mandals who have experience in the field be involved to avoid any untoward incident which may harm the beneficiaries. The fact is that there are already around 800 - 1000 Mahila Mandals involved in Nutrition supplies in Mumbai Suburban District. At present in Múmbai Suburban District, there are more than 700 Mahila Mandals/ self-help groups working in ICDS scheme and also there are many other Mahila Mandals & self-help groups working in Midday Meal Scheme as well as other as government schemes in Mumbai. Hence, this Condition of requirement of One year’s Experience is not harsh nor will exclude Mahila Mandals due to almost 800-1000 Mahila Mandals who have 1 year and above work experience for nutrition supplies. Supplementary nutrition food is being supplied to 6 months to 6 years children and pregnant - lactating mothers. So 1 year experience is required to prepare different types of recipes.

(iii) Condition no. 9- I say and submit that the requirement of

Average Bank balance of Rs. 10,000/- is reasonable as the Mahila Mandal needs to supply food to the beneficiaries without any disruptions and will require working capital to meet the routine expenses which will be almost Rs. 75,000/to 1,00,000/- for 3 months. Any SHG with minimum 5 AWCS for supply purposes should be dealing with approximately total 180 beneficiaries daily, amounting to monthly app. Rs.30,000/-of SNP supplies. Thus, it requires that the SHG/ Mahila Mandal must be financially competent to provide SNP to the beneficiaries without interruption. The requirement is just for having an average Monthly balance of Rs. 10000/- and it is very much reasonable. Previously, the requirement was for Rs.25000/- average bank balance as per the original terms and conditions laid down vide letter dated 09.08.2019 but was relaxed after receiving representations from Mahila Mandals, vide letter dated 27.01.2020 to only Rs.10, 000/. As per Hon’ble Supreme Court directions in WP

(c) no. 196 of 2001, supply of supplementary nutrition should not be disrupted and supply of Nutrition should be provided to beneficiaries for minimum 300 days in a year. bdp

(iv) Condition no. 15 - As the beneficiaries of the scheme are children, there is need to maintain hygiene in Kitchen. Kitchen should have store room and Mahila Mandal must have transport facility for providing food up to Anganwadi centers. Stock needs to be maintained for a minimum period of one week to avoid unforeseen situations, natural calamities, etc. in view of non-tolerance to disruptions in supplies which may affect the nutrition status of the beneficiaries. Stock room is also essential as the Rice provided through FCI to the cooking agency is provided on a quarterly basis and needs to be stored properly for future consumption Transport arrangement is essential for timely supplies to Anganwadis.

(v) Condition no. 19 & 20- As the ICDS scheme is centrally sponsored and the cost ratio between Centre and state is fixed by the Centre. Cost norms are already fixed by Government of India as Rs.8/- per beneficiary per day including PDS wheat and rice. Ratio of cost sharing is 50% state share and 50% central share. Whenever there is a change in the Cost norms made by the centre, the same is implemented immediately by the State. The state has been continuously engaging Mahila Mandals/Bachat gats for nutrition supplies since 2005 and on the same terms related to cost norms and no price escalations being given to the supplying agency. And after supply of one month, Mandals have to submit the bill to the office for payment. After that the bill is being checked and it is submitted to treasury office for payment and then the payment is released subject to condition of availability of budget. There is no provision for payment of interest for payment delay in the scheme, So state cannot bear the interest. For compliance of the Honorable Supreme Court directions that all Mahila Mandal or self-help group members should be women, the list of members and their identity documents are made Compulsory.

(vi) Condition no. 22 is essential in view of the involvement of local Mahila Mandal and self-help group and the need for decentralization of work as mandated by the Judgement of the Hon. Supreme Court. The location of the Kitchen in the project area has been mandated due to the requirement of supply of hot and fresh food to beneficiaries. bdp

(vii) Condition nos. 34 & 36- As stated earlier, the cost norms are determined by the Central Government as the scheme is a national scheme which is implemented by the state and as per the norms, the State Government and Central Government ratio of budget is 50:50. It is necessary for the suppliers to meet the nutritional standards which are laid down under the National Food Security Act, 2013. The district level committee under the chairmanship, of district Collector is authorized for specifying the recipes to be supplied in their districts as per the local tastes, availability, etc. keeping into into Consideration the mandated nutritional standards. The Government only allots rice and wheat at subsidised rates, wheat at Rs.2/- per kg and rice at Rs.3/ per kg Mahila Mandals/ Bachat Gat have to purchase other items from local market and supply the cooked food at Rs.8/- per beneficiary per day, the rate fixed by Government of India. The tender for supply of Supplementary Nutrition is not the rate tender as the cost norms are fixed by the central government. Tenders are invited through calling Expression of Interest for selecting the Mahila Mandal/ Self Help Group only.

(viii) Condition no. 39- Allotment of Wheat and rice is done by the Government of India. As per received allotment to the State Government, it is distributed to Self Help Groups and Mahila Mandal as per availability and number of beneficiaries allotted to the concerned Mahila Mandal/ Self Help Group. Per beneficiary per day cost norms are fixed by Government of India as per supplementary nutrition rule

2017. The Mahila mandals have been involved in the nutrition supplies since 2005 and there has never been any provision to provide difference amount to any supplier in the ICDS nutrition policy. 3) The tender no.29 is/regarding supply of micro nutrient fortified food which requires machinery for preparation of the product. It is the part of the Government of India policy and machinery. Hon’ble Supreme Court has not been expressly restricted in the Judgement the usage of machineries for production of THR. Government has prescribed 2 technologies for the manufacture and the Mahila Mandal is required to select the preferred technology one is extrusion based and other is roaster based. Roaster based machinery is very simple in nature. Cost beneficiary ratio of unit cost is taken into consideration by the high bdp power committee while taking the decision. In fact in view of the health of beneficiaries and requirement of hygiene scale of the operation is between 100-150 children, therefore efficient and sanitary production are necessary condition for which having machinery for production is required. The condition for procuring the machinery before the actual tender avoid any delays in commencement of supplies after allotment of is necessitated to work as well as the need to verify the machineries before allotment of work orders to Mahila Mandals and it is a reasonable condition.

(ix) Condition no. 14/ Tender no.29- Manufacturing unit is essential for the Production of micronutrient fortified THR as there has to be a designated place for installation of all the requisite machineries with the electricity connection such as Pulverizer, Cleaning Machine (Chalana), Cleaning Machine (Distoner), Roaster, Blender, Aluminum tray, Packing Machine (hand sealing or automatic), Weighing Machine and correct measurement for mixing of micronutrients and hence it is compulsory. As the beneficiaries of the scheme are children, there is need to maintain hygiene in the manufacturing unit too.

(x) Condition no. 14/ Tender no.29- The manufacturing unit should have store room and Mahila Mandal must have transport facility for providing food up to Anganwadi centers. Stock needs to be maintained for a minimum period of 15 days to avoid unforeseen situations,natural calamities, etc. in view of the need to avoid disruptions in supplies which may affect the nutrition status of the beneficiaries. Stock room is also essential as the wheat provided through FCI to the implementing agency is provided on quarterly basis and needs to be stored properly for future consumption. Transport arrangement is essential for timely supplies to Anganwadis. Tender condition no.22- Cost norms are fixed by Government of India per beneficiary per day which currently is as below mentioned bdp Category Revised Norms Per Beneficiary per day

(i) Children 6month -6 years Rs. 8.00

(ii) Severely Underweight Children

(iii) Pregnant women & Lactating

(iv) Adolescent girls Rs.9.50

So state cannot increase the cost norms suomoto. If central government increases the Cost norms, that will be automatically eligible to the state government supplementary nutrition program and it is immediately made applicable to Mahila Mandals.

(xi) Condition no.23- budgetary allocation for the cost share of the scheme is 50% central share and 50% state share. Sometimes budgetary allocation by the Centre is received late. After receiving central share to the state, the state government releases budget for the supplementary nutrition supplier’s payments. So for delayed payment, government does not give any interest. Integrated Child Development Service Scheme is running from 1975, government has not paid any interest for delayed payment till date, so this is not a new condition.

(xii) Rs.5000/-Earnest money deposit is a very common tender condition. It is applicable to every tender as per the purchase policy of Government of Maharashtra. In the Integrated Child Development Service Scheme Rs.5000/, a very minimum amount has been fixed by the Government.

28. The above explanation rendered by the State Government in the affidavit in reply is accepted. The clauses of the tender are fair, bdp reasonable and not arbitrary.

29. Mr. Warunjikar has taken exceptions to many clauses including the clause regarding vehicle for transportation. However, it is to be noted that no where the clause no.15 states that the Women Self-Help Group should be the owner of the transport vehicle. It is specifically mentioned that the transport vehicle can be hired. The only requirement is that as and when necessary, transport facility should be available. As far as store room is concerned, Mr. Warunjikar submitted that there should be a separate store room and it cannot be in a residential flat. However, there is no substance in the said contention as the terms and conditions of the tender are very clear.

30. Mr. Warunjikar pointed out clause no. 12 of the Tender NO. 29/2020 regarding Take Home Ration (THR) and submitted that the cost of purchasing the machinery and manufacturing unit clearly shows that this is the backdoor entry for the industrialists. The said machineries as mentioned in the tender are as follows:- Sr. No. Name of Machinery

1. Pulverizer

2. Cleaning Machine (Chalana)

3. Cleaning Machine (Distroner)

4. Roaster bdp

5. Blender

6. Aluminum Tray

7. Packing Machine

8. Weighing Machine It is significant to note that particular grams of ration is required to be given to the beneficiaries for ensuring the proper intake of proteins and vitamins. Apart from that a high standard of hygiene is required to be maintained in view of the tender being for supply of food. The said conditions in the tender appears to have been incorporated in view of the “2018 Policy” and particularly in view of “2013 Guidelines”, wherein detailed provisions are made regarding procurement of raw material for production of “THR”, processing of food, packaging, quality assurance etc. Therefore there is no substance in the said submission made by the petitioner.

31. The petitioner has filed affidavit dated 9th December, 2020, stating that there are 41 members of the petitioners who have participated in the said tender process. When we were about to start dictation of this order, Mr. Warunjikar submitted that the present petition is only challenging the tender process as far as the same is concerning with the portion of area under the jurisdiction of Child Development Project Officer, Andheri-1 under tender no. 1/2020 and bdp 29/2020. It is significant to note that all these tender conditions are same for the entire State of Maharashtra including Mumbai city. As far as Mumbai city is concerned, it is to be noted that except the challenge with respect to the same for Andheri-1 area as done by the present writ petition, the terms and conditions of such tender for other parts of city of Mumbai are not challenged although the terms and conditions of the tender for the entire city of Mumbai and infact for the entire State of Maharashtra are identical. It is significant to note that the petitioner is the Federation of Women Self-Help Group having 217 societies of women as members and they are located in various parts of the City of Mumbai and they have not challenged the tender conditions of identical tenders for rest of the Mumbai area except area of Andheri-1, which clearly shows that the terms and conditions of the said tenders are not onerous as contended by the petitioner.

32. Mr. Thorat, learned AGP made a statement that pursuant to the invitation of tender of October, 2020 for entire city of Mumbai, 800 applications had been received and out of the same 600 applications are being considered. He further states that the tender documents are issued only to Mahila Bachat Gats. Statements are accepted. Such overwhelming response to the tender also clearly shows that the terms and conditions of the tender have been rightly accepted by all the bdp bidders except the petitioner and that also only concerning Andheri-1 area and not for entire Mumbai City.

33. The petitioner in the additional affidavit dated 9th December, 2020 has specifically stated that 41 members of the petitioner has participated in the Take Home Ration (THR) Tender and has a list of such members thereof. Comparison of the said list with the list produced by the learned AGP area-wise clearly shows that the said petitioner’s members who have participated in the tender process are located in different parts of Mumbai including Andheri-3, Bandra, Bhandup, Borivali, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Goregaon, Jogehwari, Khar, Santacruz, Malvani etc. It is strange that the petitioner who claims to be the Federation of about 217 societies of women who are Self-Help Groups/Mahila Mandals operating in various parts of Mumbai are not aggrieved by any of the terms and conditions of similar tenders in other part of City of Mumbai but only aggrieved by the terms and conditions as regards Andheri-1 area. The said conduct of the petitioner raises very serious doubt about the genuineness of the challenge raised by the petitioner in this petition and whether the challenge of the petitioner is at all in the interest of Mahila Bachat Gats or was infact to safeguard the vested interest of some other person/s. However, we refrain ourselves from going into that aspect in larger detail. bdp

34. The said scheme of supplementary nutrition is basically for the benefit of children from 6 months to 6 years and for the benefit of several under weight children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. It is equally true that the said scheme is also for the benefit of local organization of women and self help groups. However, the State has to frame various terms and conditions in such a manner that the interest of beneficiaries as well as the interest of Mahila Bachat Gats are protected. In our view the factual position on record clearly shows that the State Government has acted in fair and reasonable manner in drafting the terms and conditions of the tender and during tender process. Therefore, taking into consideration over all aspects, we see no reason to interfere with the impugned tender. The Writ Petition is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs.

35. Mr. Warunjikar, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks continuation of interim order dated 22nd October, 2020. The said prayer is rejected. [MADHAV J. JAMDAR, J.] [R. D. DHANUKA, J.]