PWD floating tenders bending rules, DMK complains to DVAC

The DMK on Wednesday petitioned the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) demanding a probe against officers involved in floating illegal tenders in PWD by relaxing rules.

Referring to a January 31, 2021 dated GO issued by the Principal Secretary of PWD, providing for relaxation of rules empowering chief engineers to finalise tenders above Rs 1 crore, DMK MLA PTR Thiyagarajan from Madurai (Central), in his complaint, said the GO means any high value tender running into thousands of crores can be finalised by CEs without any reference to Tenders Awards Committee, which, undoubtedly, would lead to corruption, nepotism and favouritism.

Alleging that the intention behind the relaxation was to float high value tenders before election notification and allot the tenders in favour of those close to the establishment, Thiyagarajan said the PWD Principal Secretary issued another GO granting administrative sanction to tenders worth Rs 3,159 crore (Irrigation, extension, renovation and moderniaation of the irrigation system in the Cauvery sub basin in 31 packages) on February 8.

Claiming that the very next day on February 9, 2021, the superintending engineer (Water resource department) of Lower Cauvery Basin Circle floated tenders for Rs 2,834 crore, the DMK IT wing secretary said that after administrative sanction, steps like Detailed Project Report (DPR) and specifications have to be prepared before floating tenders, which would require at least 30 – 45 days. However, in the present case, authorities have floated the tender with a view to finalise the tenders before election notification, the DMK MLA alleged, adding that the February 9 tender notification was bereft of details, including scope cum value of work, earnest money deposit and done in utmost secrecy to prevent competing bidders from participating.