Official-contractor link spells trouble for MCB finances

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 19

A suspicious connection between officials of the Municipal Corporation and contractors is causing losses to the MCB, already reeling under debt.

The MCB is purchasing everything from contractors, who are not the manufacturers or suppliers of the product concerned.

The contractor supplying stationary, printers and toners is also supplying stainless steel dustbins to the MCB.

Contractor Sumit Garg had supplied stainless steel dustbins, winter-summer uniforms, tree-guards, plants, manure and even JCB machines and tractors on rent to the MCB.

He is not a manufacturer or supplier of any of these products.

Contractors Davinder, Sita Ram and others are also supplying material to the MCB.

If the MCB had directly asked manufacturers, authorised dealers or distributors of the companies, they would have quoted lower prices.

In some tenders contractors have quoted around 40 per cent less than the estimated cost and still managed to get the work.

It has raised two questions — either the MCB had inflated the estimated cost or the supplier is not supplying genuine branded products.

NK Gosain, a city resident, said the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) is unnecessarily wasting tax payers’ hard-earned money by spending it without proper planning.

It’s strange that instead of buying tractors from agencies, the MCB is buying vehicles from contractors, he added.

Congress leader Arun Wadhawan said wastage of public money by the MCB should be stopped at all cost.

No single bid tender should be allotted and all such tenders which have been allotted in the past should be thoroughly probed, he added.

Senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal said, “I have been pointing to such things since long. We should go to genuine suppliers but time and again MCB officials stick to routine process by going to the old contractors. If we call manufactures, we will get items at lower price. Tenders should be not be allotted to contractors at least in big budget items for which we can straightway go to authorised dealer, the process other departments are following.”

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said, “We are following the rules laid by the state government of calling tenders. In allotment of tenders, agencies or manufactures don’t show any interest. We have to give the contract to the person who makes the lowest bid. Still we will see what can be done as to save public money is our main prime concern.”