Will approach vigilance for probe, says mayor
Deputy controller Sandeep Kumar noticed discrepancies in payment as firm charged ₹925 per km instead of the quoted ₹555 per km
JALANDHAR: Not satisfied with the inquiry carried out under the municipal corporation (MC) joint commissioner, mayor Jagdish Raja on Friday said the MC will seek the intervention of the state vigilance bureau in the case pertaining to the sweeping machine project scam.
“Due to the ongoing strike in the inspector assault case, we couldn't pursue the case. Since this situation is under control now, we are on it again. There is much more to the case than it was revealed in the inquiry report under the MC. This is why we have decided to approach the state vigilance department on the matter,” said Jagdish Raja.
“I have already asked the municipal commissioner to prepare the case. We will continue to pursue the matter till the outsourced company does not payback for the losses that civic body has faced under the project,” he added.
Raja had read the departmental inquiry report in the house meeting on October 18. He had also stood up against the project during his previous tenure as leader of the opposition.
THE CASE
The project worth ₹30 crore was initiated in November 2016.
During a House meeting on June 25, mayor Jagdish Raja had alleged that the sweeping machine project was involved in a scam worth ₹7 crore.
The municipal corporation inquiry report states that the Delhi-based Lions Services Pvt Ltd had carried out corruption of ₹13 crore by tampering with the agreement.
Raja had said the scam was revealed after the deputy controller noticed discrepancies in payments.
Following the allegations, the cleanliness work was stopped on July 1.
While in front of the court, the company had claimed that they will be charging ₹555 per km but, in reality, they were charging ₹925 per km of road.
Also, the finance and contract committee (F&CC) extended the project tenure from 3 years to 5 years without taking the House into confidence, along with many other discrepancies.
Over 100 sanitation workers of the firm manually cleaned the roads during the day. The firm had two machines to clean roads during the night.
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We will continue to pursue the matter till the outsourced company does not pay back for the losses that the MC faced. JAGDISH RAJA, Jalandhar mayor