New Delhi: The State government on Tuesday, informed the Bombay High Court of a policy decision which would ensure that no goods of substandard quality are henceforth purchased.

The policy was passed due to reports of the alleged supply of substandard chikki food snacks to Maharashtra anganwadis.

The policy, 'Manual of Office Procedure for Purchase of Stores by Government Department', was set out by a government resolution issued on October 30. The information was conveyed to justices VM Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere by Shrihari Aney, advocate general.

According to the new policy, the state departments would have to follow several procedures under various categories, before an item is purchased. To reduce any corruption allegation, financial constraints have been put into place.

On every purchase, further e-tendering has been now made compulsory. E-tenders will have to be issues for Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 per annum purchases. In cases of purchases between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 crore, quotations would also have to be called before tenders are issued. Prior government approval is compulsory before any purchase is made.

Sandeep Ahire and others sought an inquiry into the alleged Rs 206 crore chikki scam through a public interest litigation. It was during this hearing that the statement had been made.

When the court wanted to know whether any government inquiry was set up to look into the alleged scam, Aney informed that no such move had been made. However, he also notified that the food and drug administration commissioner had found the chikki quality fine after carrying out quality checks.