RTI indicates rules violation in awarding contracts
19 Aug, 2012The historical plot at Maharashtra, where revolutionary Umaji Naik Khomane was arrested by the British in 1832, was handed over the Pune-based Sanjay Kakade Group in 2004 in return for building a few government offices by the group.
Information revealed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 show that even after eight years of the contract only 60% work has been completed even though it was required to be completed in 18 months. It has been alleged that the cost of constructing the offices would be just Rs. 3 crore whereas the cost of the plot equals Rs. 30 crore. It has been claimed that despite the huge profit earned by the group, it has failed to complete the project in the allotted time of 18 months. It has also come to light that three extensions (December 2009, June 2011 and June 2012) have been provided to the group one after another and all of them have been breached. The group has now sought another extension for completion of the work. Against the bill of Rs. 2 crore, a penalty of merely Rs. 39 lakh has been paid as penalty.
Further, the information revealed under the RTI application has raised the suspicion that there were gross irregularities in approving the architectural plan of the project.