NCTB sent several recommendation letters to DPE to award the lowest bidder 'Krishna Traders' as paper price at their rate is around Tk 4.5 crore less than the second lowest bidder 'Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd' and Krishna Traders had provided papers to NCTB for the last three years, NCTB sources said.

Top office bearers of DPE are trying to award the tender to the second lowest bidder to get personal benefits, sources in NCTB and DPE said.

DPE Director General Khondaker M Asaduzzaman, for his part, said they recommended the second lowest bidder 'Hindustan PC Ltd' because the organisation has five years' experience that the lowest bidder 'Krishna' does not have.

Krishan Traders will not be awarded the tender due to their not having five years' experience that is one of the main conditions of the World Bank, he added.

The DPE DG, who is also programme director of the Second Education Development Programme, said Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) will decide the matter in line with the conditions of World Bank as it will provide interest-free loan to the government for the project.

Both the bidders are Indian manufacturing companies.

'Hindustan' has five years' experience of goods manufacturing but they do not have the experience of goods transportation from India to Bangladesh while 'Krishna' has three years' experience of goods manufacturing as well as transportation from India to Bangladesh, NCTB sources said.

NCTB floated an international tender for providing 6,500 metric ton printing paper and 565 metric ton cartridge paper for primary textbooks of academic year 2008 under Primary Education Development Project (PEDP)-2 on December 21, 2006.

Five manufacturer companies submitted bids for the tender. The lowest bidder 'Krishna' quoted the price rate of US$ 766.60 for per metric ton printing paper and US$ 790.00 for per metric ton cartridge paper while the price rates of second lowest bidder 'Hindustan' was US$ 829.985 and US$ 830.985.

The difference of the two bidders' rates is US$ 63 for per metric ton printing paper and US$ 40 for per metric ton cartridge paper.

The amount at the rate offered by 'Hindustan' will be US$ 4,35,159 or Tk 3,04,61,130 higher than that of 'Krishna'. Including Value Added Tax (VAT), the amount will reach over Tk 4.5 crore, sources of NCTB and DPE pointed out.

The Tender Evaluation Committee in a meeting on May 30 proposed re-floating of the tender because no bidders fulfilled the conditions of the tender. The TEC comprises representatives from NCTB, DPE, the Ministry of Education and Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.

"We proposed re-tender for NCTB and DPE to consider or to take measures to reduce the price rates through negotiation with bidders," said a member of TEC referring to the decision of the meeting.

But top officials of DPE allegedly pressurised the NCTB to send a recommendation letter declaring all price rates of Hindustan 'responsive', sources in NCTB and DPE said.

"DPE directed the NCTB on May 30 to send a proposal for acceptance of the price rates of the Hindustan," a top official of NCTB said.

'Krishna' was disqualified for failing to show five years experience while 'Hindustan' was considered as non-responsive because quoted rate is much higher than the rate of last three years, source of TEC said.

In its last recommendation letter on April 15, NCTB said 'Krishna' could be declared as responsive considering the minor deviation as the organisation provided papers with good record for the last three years.

However, ignoring the recommendation of NCTB, DPE on April 18 sent a letter to the TEC proposing re-evaluation of the case of 'Hindustan'.

Prof Yusuf Farooq, chairman of NCTB, said they sent recommendation in favour of 'Krishna' but the TEC will finalise the decision following the recommendation of DPE.

"We will face problem if papers are not provided by September. It will be impossible to get papers in due time if the tender is floated again. We recommended 'Krishna' to save time and government money," Farooq told The Daily Star.

Kazi Serazul Hoque, Bangladesh agent of Krishna Traders, said that they had been providing annually around 44,000 metric ton papers to the NCTB for the last three years.

"Our company started in 1979. We have last three years' experience of supplying papers to the NCTB. This tender is now being evaluated. So I cannot comment about it," Serazul said.