Dikshit didn't take any decision in favour of any firms: Chief secy

With the heat turning on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on alleged irregularities and lapses in bidding process of several Commonwealth Games (CWG) projects, the Delhi government has come out in her complete defence.

With the heat turning on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on alleged irregularities and lapses in bidding process of several Commonwealth Games (CWG) projects, the Delhi government has come out in her complete defence.

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Addressing the media for the second day in succession, Delhi chief secretary Praveen Kumar Tripathi said the chief minister had not taken any decision to favour any particular companies during the bidding process.

"We do not even know what is there in the CAG report, as we have not even seen it till now. Some of the points seem to have been included later and our reaction was not sought on that. But there are factual problems with what is appearing in the media and we want to clarify those points," said Tripathi said.

Standing by the government's decision to pick ILFS Eco-Smart to remove the construction debris just ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Tripathi said there was no time to go through the motions of calling tenders.

Rejecting the allegation that the chief minister had favoured the company, Tripathi said it was 'not true' that any relative of Dikshit is a member of the IL&FS board.

Reacting to the reports that the public works department (PWD) did not follow the CPWD guidelines on giving 15% profit margin to the contractors and instead gave 35% to its contractors who built roads and bridges, Tripathi said the PWD had been following the ministry of roads, transport and highways guidelines for the past 15 years.

"There are several items in the CPWD guidelines which are not included in conditions and requirements such as load testing of piers, deployment of machinery, traffic arrangement, laps and chairs in the steel reinforcement in RCC works. All these items are paid for additionally under the CPWD specifications," Tripathi said.