FOLLOWING THE fracas over tenders, which subsequently led to their cancellation, the LDA Vice Chairman BB Singh has now laid down the procedure to be adopted in conducting all such exercises in future in a peaceful, fair and transparent manner.
The LDA VC had instituted an inquiry and asked finance controller Mohan Yadav to submit a report pointing out the lapses in the process of inviting tenders for various development works on June 22. The probe report was submitted by the FC on Tuesday. While not agreeing fully with the findings of the inquiry, the LDA VC has stipulated certain norms to be followed to prevent a repeat of the incident.
As a first step towards this, Singh has directed that instead of in one go, the exercise inviting tenders should be conducted in a phased manner. “Tenders of only 8 to 10 works should be ideally be invited in a single day so as not to effect the normal functioning of the department,” Singh has pointed out. Besides, as was done in the past, tender boxes should also be kept at the Commissioner and District Magistrate office to ensure that nobody is denied the opportunity of participating in the process.
In his letter to the department’s secretary and chief engineer, the LDA VC has asked whether this standard practice was followed on June 22. “If not, then when was this practice stopped. The probe report has not taken this aspect into account,” states the missive. While tender boxes should be kept at both these places in future, it should also be ensured that only the applicants or just one of their authorised representatives is allowed entry in the office during the process, the letter states.
{{/usCountry}}In his letter to the department’s secretary and chief engineer, the LDA VC has asked whether this standard practice was followed on June 22. “If not, then when was this practice stopped. The probe report has not taken this aspect into account,” states the missive. While tender boxes should be kept at both these places in future, it should also be ensured that only the applicants or just one of their authorised representatives is allowed entry in the office during the process, the letter states.
{{/usCountry}}Moreover, as a precautionary measure, apart from the private security personnel hired by the department, steps should also be taken to requisition additional police force from the local police station during the exercise.