Ludhiana: Despite being floated, tenders not signed in F&CC meeting

MC superintending engineer Sham Lal Gupta says the matter is already in the knowledge of senior officials. Work orders will be issued soon, he adds

Questions are being raised over the delay in issuing work orders for special assistance projects as tenders, though floated in advance, were not signed during the recent Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) meeting held last Thursday, leading to further hold-up in starting the works.

MC officials says the matter is being sorted out.

Officials, wishing not to be named, said the municipal corporation (MC) had already floated the tenders for development works under the Centre’s Special Assistance Fund well in time. However, during the F&CC meeting, the approved tenders were not formally signed, which has now pushed the projects into uncertainty.

Officials in the civic body said that once tenders are floated and placed before the F&CC, the signing of proceedings is a crucial step for issuing work orders. In this case, the absence of signatures during the meeting has delayed the process, even though the works were discussed.

The projects involve road recarpeting, repair of streets, drainage improvement and other civic works across the city. As per norms, the works are to be initiated before March 31 to ensure that funds under the special assistance scheme are released within the current financial year.

Residents alleged that the delay in signing the tenders during the meeting appears to have been avoidable. “If tenders were already floated and discussed, there was no reason to keep them unsigned. This has unnecessarily delayed the issuance of work orders,” said a Jaspreet Singh resident of Jalandhar bypass.

Residents, too, expressed concern, stating that development works often get caught in administrative procedures. “The city needs urgent repair of roads and drains. Delays at the file level directly affect the public,” said a Jasmehar Chugh.

MC officials, however, maintained that the matter was being sorted out and the necessary formalities would be completed soon. With the March 31 deadline approaching, the delay in signing and issuing work orders has once again brought focus on internal functioning of the civic body and the need for timely decision-making.

Superintending engineer Sham Lal Gupta said, “The matter is already under the knowledge of senior officials. Work orders will be issued soon.”

Despite repeated attempts, mayor Inderjit Kaur was not available for comments.