* Submits ‘sample case’ in relation to a single tender contract in
Gosikhurd irrigation project, running into 3,134 pages divided into 13
volumes
* The complaint is ‘elaborate’ with ‘modus operandi of manipulation’ by contractors and VIDC officials
By Kartik Lokhande
Jan
Manch, a city-based NGO that has filed a public interest litigation in
multi-crore irrigation scam, lodged a complaint with the Superintendent
of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) here pertaining to corruption
and irregularities in irrigation projects under Vidarbha Irrigation
Development Corporation (VIDC).
Adv Anil Kilor, President of Jan
Manch, told ‘The Hitavada’ that the NGO had filed the complaint
consisting of 3,134 pages in 13 volumes. “It demonstrates a sample case
study of one single tender in Gosikhurd project. The complaint is
elaborate with all the modus operandi of manipulation by officials of
VIDC and contractors,” he said. Jan Manch scrutinised tender documents
and found ‘massive irregularities’ indicating ‘conspiracy, cheating, and
collusion’ between officials of VIDC and contractors. The NGO appealed
to the ACB to conduct an investigation into the matter, based on the
documents submitted.
Some of the prominent observations made in the
complaint are as follows: tender estimates are exorbitant, tender
authorities manipulating the original cost estimate of tender after
receiving bids to ‘adjust’ the bid to within 5 per cent mark to avoid
approval of Finance Department, lack of adequate experience of bidders,
successful bidders not having adequate bid capacity and concealing facts
and misleading VIDC, ‘severely rigged’ bidding process, etc.
Explaining
the observations, Adv Kilor said that the tender authorities
‘manipulated’ the original cost estimate of the tender after receiving
bids in such a way that the quote was restricted within 5 per cent of
the original estimate. “If the bid would have been over 5%, approval of
Finance Department was necessary. To avoid scrutiny of Finance
Department in Mantralaya, and get sanction at the level of VIDC in
Nagpur, the cost estimates were bulged,” he said. For instance, he said,
if original cost estimate is of Rs 100 and contractor’s bid is Rs 125,
the bid is 25 per cent above the original cost. In such cases, the
original cost was revised to the mark of Rs 120. Compared to this, the
bid of Rs 125 was only 4.16 per cent above the ‘original’ estimate of
Rs 120.
Besides, The bidders did not have adequate experience to
comply with minimum quantity criteria of various construction items viz.
excavation and embankment. Despite this, the Evaluation Committee chose
to turn a blind eye towards this and ‘deviated from the stipulated
conditions to benefit favored contractors’, Jan Manch added in its
complaint.
Also, the successful bidders of contract did not have
adequate bid capacity to be eligible for quoting the tender. The bidders
‘concealed the facts and misled VIDC’, stated the complaint. There was
‘no merit’ in bidding process and it was ‘severely rigged’.
The bid
participants had ‘formed cartel’ amongst themselves. “It also involved
participation of shadow firms, which eliminated the element of secrecy
and competition. The letter pads of various shadow companies had similar
details. These instances are acts of cheating, fraud, and criminal
conspiracy by bidding companies and officials of VIDC,” Adv Kilor told
‘The Hitavada’.
Asked about the names of contractors, officials
involved and specifics of project work, Adv Kilor said, “At this stage,
the complainant can share no specific details as there is a possibility
that evidences may be tampered with. Anti-Corruption Bureau should act
swiftly and conduct thorough investigation and lodge FIR at the earliest
as substantial documentary evidence has been provided,” he added.
It
may be mentioned that ‘The Hitavada’ had blown the lid off multi-crore
irrigation scam and had exposed the unholy nexus of
contractors-bureaucrats-politicians in early 2012. Manipulation of
tender documents, updating of original cost of tenders to accomodate
bids of influential and politically well-connected contractors within 5
per cent limit, grant of mobilisation and machinery advances in
violation of circular, pressure mounted by powerful lobbies to get the
circular scrapped following a letter sent by PA of the then Water
Resources Minister Ajit Pawar, hasty grant of revised administrative
approvals to escalate costs of various irrigation projects etc were
highlighted by ‘The Hitavada’ through its series ‘Black Paper on
Irrigation’.
‘The Hitavada’ series created quite a furore and other
media picked it up. Soon, it all snowballed into a major political
controversy forcing Ajit Pawar to resign from the posts of Deputy Chief
Minister and Finance Minister. Later on, quoting from ‘The Hitavada’
reports that were based on over 1,500 pages of official documents apart
from various internal enquiry reports, several public interest
litigations were filed in various courts.
(Filed on February 26, 2015)
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