Deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma, who is also the president of the Lodhi Club, has issued show-cause notices to the club’s six executive members for bypassing a tender committee’s chairperson and recommending the second-highest bidder for catering services.
Issuing the notices on Saturday evening, Sharma has sought a reply within 48 hours, failing which action will be initiated against the six members, including general secretary Nitin Mahajan, joint secretary Dr Sarju Ralhan, mess secretary Nishit Singhania, finance secretary Munish Gupta, sports secretary Ram Narain Sharma and bar secretary Jagatvir Singh Bittu.
As per information, the club had decided to float tenders to hire a caterer. For this, the DC constituted a committee under the chairmanship of PCS officer Neeru Katyal Gupta, with the general secretary, joint secretary, mess secretary and finance secretary as the members.
After the tenders were opened on September 6, two bids were received – one from a local caterer and another from a Muktsar-based firm, for ₹1.4 lakh and ₹1.51 lakh per month, respectively.
However, as stated in the show-cause notice, the six executive members recommended the local caterer for the contract, while bypassing the committee’s chairperson, despite a better offer by the other bidder.
{{/usCountry}}However, as stated in the show-cause notice, the six executive members recommended the local caterer for the contract, while bypassing the committee’s chairperson, despite a better offer by the other bidder.
{{/usCountry}}“It is against the financial interests of the club and the members should submit a reply within 48 hours on why action cannot be taken against them for the misconduct,” states the notice.
On his part, Mahajan said no contract had been awarded yet, and only a recommendation had been made to the DC, who held the authority to take the final decision.
“The Ludhiana-based caterer has worked with the club in the past and was found more appropriate, while the services of the Muktsar caterer were not found up to the mark by the members while evaluating the bids. The chairperson of the committee was also apprised of this before the recommendation was sent to the club president,” said Mahajan, while adding that they will submit a reply on Monday.