Arun Singh
Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 23: The Public Health Engineering Department, flouting the set norms to while allocating development works to the contractors got executed thousands works costing hundreds of crores of rupees without inviting tenders. Sources told Early Times that in order to bring transparency and ensure timely completion of development works, the works are allocated through tender but due to lackluster attitude of the department as well as the political interference in the allotment of development works, without fulfilling the formal modalities more than 4000 works under National Rural Drinking Water Programme involving hundreds of crore of rupees were executed without following the codal formalities.
"As per Government instructions under Rule 8.5 of J&K Financial Code Volume-I which provide that the works should not be executed without invitation of tenders but Executive Engineers of more than seven division got executed 3600 works without invitation of tenders at a cost of Rs 46 crore in five years," they said further adding that similarly, 742 schemes in eight divisions in Jammu Division, were executed without inviting the tenders at an expenditure of Rs 298 crore.Moreover, PHE Department, going out of course, made payment of Rs 9 crore on hand receipts to the contractors. Further, some works valuing Rs 4 crore were executed departmentally by making payments to the labour mates through casual labour rolls (Form- 22) in six divisions, they informed.
Sources further informed that the Executive Engineers allegedly in contravention to the tendering system, got executed citing reasons of emergent nature of works, public demand and instructions of local legislators / ministers and besides poor response of contractors, the works were executed without invitation of tenders.
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