Indian Express 18.02.2010
Contractors cry foul over PWD tendering process
Raakhi Jagga Tags : civic, PWD Posted: Thursday , Feb 18, 2010 at 0429 hrs
Inquiry marked to chief engineer, minister orders re-tendering of dubious projects worth Rs 10 cr
Eleven contractors undertaking construction projects of the Public Works Department (PWD) have alleged mismanagement in the tender allotment process and claimed that ‘influential’ firms were being given work orders at lesser rates, hence causing loss to the state exchequer.
Projects worth nearly Rs 10 crore have come under the scanner and PWD Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa has ordered re-tendering of all the ‘dubious’ projects, apart from marking an inquiry to be conducted by Chief Engineer J S Shahi.
The contractors, meanwhile, have demanded the transfer of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) and acting executive engineer C S Bains who allegedly “did favours” to a few contractors.
Contractor Ramneek Sehgal said, “On January 12, tenders for the Kohara -Machiwara road project were invited and as per the rules, only those contractors, who have undertaken works of Rs 10 crore earlier, could apply. This could be in the form of either two projects worth Rs 5 crore each or a single work costing Rs 10 crore.”
He added, “Seven firms qualified but the tender was allotted to the firm that had submitted documents of only one project worth Rs 5 crore. They claimed their project is still in progress. This is a violation of the norms but the tender was still allotted.”
“A few other projects were awarded to contractors who offered a discount of just 1-2 per cent less than the invited rates while many others had offered upto 15 per cent discounts,” alleged Roopinder Singh, another contractor.
He added that to please an “influential” contractor, PWD officials caused loss worth lakhs to the state exchequer.
Similar claims were raised against contractors who have undertaken of road projects from Kohara to Dhannansu worth Rs 95 lakh and another worth Rs 13 lakh.
As per the complaint, the SDO did not seek applications from the contractors for these projects.
It was further alleged that on February 15, tenders for various road construction projects amounting to Rs 1 crore were invited but they were told that the tendering process had been adjourned for 10 days.
“We were shocked to know that the work has already been allotted to some firm at only 2 per cent discount than the invited rate. The matter needs to be probed,” said Sehgal.
