The Delhi government on Friday announced suspension of the Central Procurement Agency’s (CPA) centralised procurement system and directed government hospitals to buy medicines, surgical items, consumables, and medical equipment directly.Photo for representation (Bloomberg)According to a health department order, seen by HT, the move comes months after the government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) alleged procurement irregularities and arrested former Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) director and CPA chief Dr Vatsala Agarwal, along with two other senior officials.The order stated that the procurement system for drugs, consumables, surgical items, equipment, and other essential healthcare commodities was centralised through orders issued in June 2025. However, under the Transaction of Business Rules, Delhi, proposals involving any important policy change or existing policy must be placed before the council of ministers and cannot be concluded at the level of the department, it stated.Until fresh rate contracts for essential medicines are finalised, government hospitals and institutions have been directed to procure medicines on their own through their heads of departments, the order stated.As part of the decision, “all pending tenders, incomplete tender processes and tenders currently under process initiated by CPA that are not finalised are cancelled with immediate effect,” the order said.It added that “the procurement functions undertaken through the CPA are kept in abeyance except for essential drugs.”According to the order, existing rate contracts and procurement contracts will continue until expiry but will be reviewed for “possibilities of illegality and procedural lapses, if any.”HT had earlier reported that the ACB registered an FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in procurement through the CPA, where medical supplies — including bed sheets, linen items, and ORS — were bought at inflated rates.