Manesar civic officials accused of corruption; MCM denies claims

A contractor accused MCM of deliberately withholding payments, imposing unfair penalties and demanding bribes to process bills

A contractor engaged by the Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) submitted a complaint to chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday, accusing senior civic body officials, including the MCM commissioner, of deliberately withholding payments, imposing unfair penalties and demanding bribes to process bills. The MCM, however, strongly refuted the allegations, calling it a “motivated attempt” to malign officials as the contractor failed to meet the contractual manpower and equipment requirements.

The MCM called the allegations a “motivated attempt” to malign officials as the contractor failed to meet the contractual manpower and equipment requirements. (Representational image)

In his complaint, Shishpal Singh Rana of Akanksha Enterprises alleged that despite executing municipal services for four months, payments amounting to over ₹8.5 crore were withheld. Rana claimed that while administrative approval for two months was pending at the government level, bills for the other two months were blocked due to “corrupt motives”. He alleged that ₹24 lakh was initially demanded to secure clearances, followed by a demand for another ₹24 lakh for administrative approvals, and an additional ₹3 crore to release pending bills.

“Every stage of the project, I have been forced to pay bribes, and I have complete documentary evidence of these transactions. The officials have systematically exploited the system, threatening to ruin my business if I don’t bow to their illegal demands,” Rana said in his complaint.

He said he shared all documents and correspondence with the Chief Minister’s Office. Rana pointed to internal records of MCM that acknowledged satisfactory performance when extending his contract, a copy of which was accessed by HT.

MCM commissioner Renu Sogan, however, dismissed the complaints as baseless and motivated. “The contractor’s allegations are completely false and an attempt to derail the transparency we have enforced. All data related to manpower deployment, work status, and service quality is available on the government-monitored portal and reviewed by senior officials at multiple levels,” she said.

Sogan maintained that MCM had repeatedly directed the contractor to rectify shortfalls, particularly regarding manpower and operational machinery such as tractor-mounted sweeping machines, but compliance was superficial.

“Across Haryana, surveillance and monitoring of municipal works have been tightened. Vigilance teams are active, and every irregularity is closely monitored. Malicious players trying to hide their shortcomings and tarnish officials’ reputations will not be spared. The portal speaks the truth, not fabricated allegations by a fraudulent contractor,” she said.

Senior MCM officials confirmed that the contractor’s complaint was received by the Chief Minister’s Office and that an internal inquiry may be initiated to verify the allegations.

Officials of the Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) said that a penalty of ₹4.30 crore was imposed on Akanksha Enterprises, the agency responsible for sanitation work, due to negligence in services, deploying fewer workers and machines than stipulated. They added that the agency’s work extension proposal had been sent to the headquarters for approval, which is still pending. All previous payments due to the agency have already been cleared by the corporation, officials said.