Stink from Northeast Frontier, Part-1
Major irregularities have been notice now and again with #IndianRailways PSU’s like #IRCON, #RVNL, #RailTel. Lot many #Railway employees are approaching our team and informing the advantage taken by Railway #PSU’s Senior level officers.
Recently we have come across a case where #IRCON OFFICER opted for limited tenders in Agartala-Akhaura Rail link, bypassing an open tender process TO #FAVOUR small time #contractor. As we will see, this could be done by first splitting the requirement to create the work and then gaming the subsequent process. These are #unmistakable signs of quid pro quo. Point is who is watching and reviewing these practices, which otherwise are not permitted even in #private-sector?
The Senior official at #IRCON has deliberately divided the #Construction-work into number of smaller packages, which allowed him to engage local #contractors by inviting #tenders valued below ₹50 lakh. This approach serves two primary purposes-
- First, it enables him to grant local contractors credentials for Railway works against which he reportedly receives significant financial benefits.
- Second, once the tender is awarded, he negotiates with the contractors and sanctions several non-scheduled items during the construction phase, which were not initially part of the Bill of Quantities (BoQ). This practice considerably inflates the contract value. This approach was intentional, as tenders of smaller amounts often evade the attention of vigilant authorities.
It’s high time that all #IndianRailways PSU’s tender are closely monitor by #Vigilance department.
We now present a two part report based on material which has come from a whistle blower.
A senior employee based in #Agartala has raised concerns about potential tender irregularities in the #Agartala-#Akhaura Rail Link Project. The employee, who has had occasion to watch the project closely, brought to light the issue after a contractor’s request to participate in a limited tender was allegedly overlooked without #justification by the Tender Inviting Authority (#TIA). Despite filing a complaint, no corrective action was taken by #IRCON management, prompting questions about the #transparency of the #tendering process.
Following a thorough review of IRCON Agartala’s tendering activities over the past six months, the employee’s findings have raised several concerns about the project’s #procurement process.
During this period, the #project has issued only limited tenders, with the following details:
Observations which raise serious questions
The #works in the tenders mentioned above were not of a specialised nature, making it unnecessary to employ the #Limited-Tender process. It is perplexing that, in #Agartala, a major city and capital of #Tripura the Tender Inviting Authority (#TIA) failed to identify qualified agencies registered with national and state departments. Instead, they opted for limited tenders, bypassing an open tender process.
Despite being limited tenders where agencies are shortlisted prior to participation, only 2-4 agencies submitted bids. This suggests that the awarding agency may have predetermined the contractor, and the other agencies participated merely to create an illusion of #competition.
The shortlisting of agencies appears arbitrary, with no #financial or #technical evaluations conducted as per the Essential Qualifying Criteria (#EQC) before selection. The awarded amounts in each tender were either 4-5% higher than or equal to the estimated amounts, likely due to the #fixing of these tenders. This has resulted in a financial loss for the Government of India, as an open tender would have attracted more competitive bids, leading to lower rates.
Evidence suggesting that these tenders were pre-determined, with the e-Tendering process serving as a mere formality. It seems that, apart from the pre-selected #bidders, the other agencies were included only to maintain an appearance of competition.
The officials who evaluated and finalized all the aforementioned tenders are as follows:
- Mr. Raman Singla, GM/Civil IRCON
- Mr. H. K. Singh, AGM/Civil IRCON
- Mr. Sankarjit Sukalabaidya, AGM/Civil IRCON
- Mr. Dharmendra Soni, Manager/F&A
While initial findings focused on tender issues, further investigation revealed more concerning issues related to poor #quality of work and alleged misuse of power and position. Mr. Singla, who served as the Project Head from January 2017 to July 2024, has since resigned and joined #RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Limited).
Part-2 of the article goes in detail of the modus operandi..