DH Impact | Heat on BDA officials for flouting tender rule

The February 27 report in DH.

Terming the BDA’s Rs 670-crore tender “a blatant violation of the government order”, the State Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee has written to the government, requesting “necessary action” against the officials concerned.

As many departments are bypassing the mandatory approval of the Justice Rathnakala-headed committee for works above Rs 50 crore, she has also suggested a new mechanism to be introduced on the e-procurement portal so that such instances are not repeated.

In a front-page article published on February 27, DH had reported that the BDA had floated a short-term tender without seeking an approval of the committee, which came into force following “40% commission” allegations in June last year. Soon after the article was published, BDA postponed the tender pertaining to electrical works at Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout but did not withdraw it yet.

“Action by the BDA in not submitting the tender documents for scrutiny defeats the very purpose of constituting the State Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee,” the two-page letter written by Justice Rathnakala to Chief Secretary Vanditha Sharma states. “It is requested to take necessary action on the concerned for violating the government order so that such actions do not repeat in future,” she adds.

Taking Justice Rathnakala’s letter very seriously, Vanditha Sharma called an urgent meeting with senior officials of the Urban Development Department (UDD) on March 3. It is learnt that she ordered disciplinary action against the officers concerned and the BDA staff who floated the tender without the committee’s approval.

Sources also said the BDA has relieved B S Deepak, executive engineer (electrical department), holding him responsible for floating the Rs 670-crore tender without following due process. He has been sent to his parent department (Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd). Senior BDA officials were however tight-lipped when asked about the action initiated by the BDA following the government’s order.

New mechanism

Besides the BDA’s violation, the two-page letter written by Justice Rathnakala has highlighted that departments like Rural Water Supply, Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam, Ports, Municipal Administration and the BBMP have published tenders above a value of Rs 50 crore without submitting them for scrutiny. It also mentions that the committee has asked for explanation from the heads of these departments in the past.

To put an end to such instances, the retired high court judge has requested the e-governance department to generate a unique code of verification by the committee. “As such a system is not in place, some departments are found uploading tender documents by surpassing the committee’s scrutiny,” the letter points out.