Days ahead of the crucial May 11 meeting of the executive committee of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association that has threatened to stop work across the State for a month in protest against “40% commission in contracts”, the State Government constituted a three-member Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee, hoping to bring a thaw in the frosty relations between the Government and contractors. However, the association is not happy with the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the committee and has termed it “too little and ineffective”.
On April 25, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai met with a delegation of the association, when he reportedly promised the association to widen the ambit of the Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise all contracts above ₹25 crore. However, the order issued on Saturday stipulates the cut off at ₹50 crore again. “How many works will be there above ₹50 crore in the State? Moreover, it is too easy to break them into multiple contracts to escape scrutiny. We demanded a pre-tender scrutiny for all contracts above ₹5 crore or ₹10 crore. But the Chief Minister promised us to reduce the cut off to ₹25 crore. Pre-tender scrutiny for only contracts above ₹50 crore is too little and essentially ineffective to curb any corruption,” said D. Kempanna, president of the association.
However, there has been a pushback from within the departments against a pre-tender scrutiny committee even at a ₹50 crore cut off. Major departments like Public Works and Water Resources already have a multitude of tender scrutiny mechanisms and in other departments any tender above ₹3 crore has to be approved by the Cabinet. The Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee only adds another layer of redtape delaying works, they argue.
This, especially since the committee will have to publish details of the tender on a website, invite public objections giving 7 days time, scrutinise them and submit its recommendations to the respective departments in 30 days. “A single judge assisted by two members scrutinising all tenders above ₹50 crore is a bit impractical and may create a backlog, further delaying works,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, the contractors’ association seems to be unhappy with the State Government’s response to their demands as well and will likely hold a mega protest by month end. “Not only the ToR of the Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee, most of the assurances given by the Chief Minister have not been fulfilled. The May 11 executive committee meeting will decide whether to strike work. But we will definitely hold the protest,” Mr. Kempanna said.
