Fazilka Municipal Council authorities in the dock
Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service
Fazilka, May 12
The local municipal council (MC) authorities, who have courted a number of controversies in the past, are heading for another embarrassing situation as allegations levelled against it that execution of certain development works was started without floating tenders for the same, have been found true in the inquiry conducted by the deputy director, local bodies, Jaskiran Singh.
In the inquiry, it was found that execution of three development works had been done by a section of contractors, despite the fact that no tenders were floated for the same, in partial manner. In one of the development works, about 32 per cent work was completed, in another development work, about 25 per cent of work was completed while in the third development work, about one per cent work had been completed so far, said Singh.
"C. Roul, principal secretary, local bodies, Punjab has asked me on the phone to conduct an inquiry on the basis of a news item, which appeared in a section of press. I got the inquiry conducted by sending two-member team to make on the spot examination to verify the allegations, which were levelled in the news item," he pointed out.
He added that he had sent the inquiry report to C. Roul as action on his inquiry report could be taken at his (Roul) level.
Interestingly, the MC authorities opened tenders of bids made by different civil works contractors to execute the development works, on May 7 even when inquiry by Singh was going on into the allegations that a section of development works, for which the tenders were opened on May 7, had already been executed by certain favourite contractors. Even Mahesh Gupta, a senior activist of the ruling BJP, also lodged a formal complaint levelling serious allegations against the MC authorities for getting some development work done from their favourite contractors, without floating tenders for the same for competitive bidding.
Satinder Singh Savi, municipal councillor and former vice-president of the MC, said that as inquiry conducted by the deputy director regarding various bunglings in the execution of development works had established the fault of the MC authorities, tenders opened on May 7 must be cancelled and legal proceedings must be launched against the guilty officials.
Anil Sethi, president, MC, said that so far he had not received inquiry report from the deputy director. He added that action would be taken against the guilty as per the contents of the inquiry report under the relevant provision of law.
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