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Chandigarh: CBI raids 4 outsourcing firms over forgery-collusion plaint
According to Ranjit Mishra, president of the Education Department Group D Employees Union, all four firms in question are being headed by members of one family.
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Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided the premises of four outsourcing companies in Sector 34, Dadumajra and Manimajra following a complaint alleging that the firms, operated by members of one family, forged documents and colluded with officials to secure government contracts.
The complaint was filed by the president of the Education Department Group D Employees Union. Thousands of people from these firms are allegedly working in various UT departments. The CBI is yet to register a case, and no official statement was released by the agency till late Friday evening.
Union president Ranjit Mishra, in his complaint, stated that all four companies were being run by two brothers and their sister. “These firms are engaged in various government works in Chandigarh and have established a deep collusion with heads of departments and other officials to secure tenders in lieu of illegal gratification,” he stated.
“Through this nexus, these firms are manipulating the tender process on the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal by uploading forged documents. With the connivance of government officials, tenders are being awarded to the companies in exchange for bribes. Whenever complaints are raised, officials suppress the matter by citing GeM procedures. Nearly 70% of tenders under Chandigarh administration related to manpower services are being awarded to these four,” the complainant mentioned.
The union president cited an example regarding a bid in Government Model Senior Secondary School, Dhanas. This tender was awarded to one of the firms in question, which showed an experience certificate issued by Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) for deploying manpower from March 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. “In fact, the company has never provided manpower to BEL during that period. A reply to an RTI application confirmed so,” Mishra stated.
Another contract was awarded by the UT social welfare department to another company on the basis of fake documents, the complainant further stated. “The company showed a fake experience certificate dated August 5, 2022, mentioning that it provided manpower services to Thapar University. The signature of Manjit Singh on that certificate was used digitally without his knowledge,” Mishra said.
Citing another case, he said 195 firms participated after Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, floated a tender, but only three firms (all belonging to the same brother-sister group) were declared qualified and awarded the tender. “The other companies were disqualified on the basis of non-production of EMP certificate. During tender process, most o
