Jaipur, Feb. 19 -- State assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani on Wednesday ordered a probe into allegations of food supplies being procured without tenders in residential hostels in tribal areas. In reply to a question raised by Congress MLA Arjun Singh Bamaniya, tribal area development minister Babulal Kharadi said students residing in government-run tribal ashram hostels are being provided meals as per a prescribed daily menu, including breakfast, fruits, milk, biscuits and tea. He added that no tenders were floated for the supply of food items to ashram hostels in 2024-25 and 2025-26. During the discussion, the Congress leader questioned Kharadi over variations in procurement rates of food items across different hostels. According to opposition members, the minister appeared unable to provide details and was seen flipping through documents. At one point, he turned towards the officers gallery seeking papers,. The Opposition alleged that purchases exceeding Rs.50,000 should mandatorily be made through a tender process, but instead, hostel wardens were allegedly allowed to procure items directly, which opened the door for arbitrary prices and corruption. Citing examples, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said the price of ghee varied significantly across hostels - Rs.800 per litre at one place, Rs.550 at another and Rs.408 elsewhere. Kharadi said local purchases were made to ensure timely supply of food to children, especially in areas where cooperative consumer stores were not available. Later, he informed the House that upon receiving complaints of irregularities, a committee had been constituted to investigate the matter....