Hyderabad: If you’re wondering why civic work is so poor and shoddy, here is the answer. Thirty six civil contractors, who were barred from doing any work for the municipal corporation have managed to weasel their way back into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) tendering process.
These contractors had been barred for delaying work, forging signatures, producing inflated bills and the like. They ought to be barred for life for cheating the public in this manner, but they are barred for only two years and then it’s back to business as usual.
The GHMC has so far penalised 42 contractors, out of them six have been blacklisted (taking away the opportunity to participate in any tender process) for a lifetime, while the 36 contractors that have been barred (punishment given for one or two years, after which they can re- bid).
Contractors on the black list sneak back as they are registered with another parent state agency. To blacklist them, the GHMC has to write to the parent agency and the principle secretary of the government of Telangana.
Most of the contractors were barred between 2014 and 2016. The scams they perpetrated were identified in road engineering, desilting of nalas, solid waste transportation and vehicle maintenance.
Not surprisingly, a large number of contractors who bagged, projects in the GHMC, are henchmen of politicians. Corporators, our ‘elected representatives’ put pressure on GHMC officers to award the contracts to their favourites.
In some cases, the blacklisted contractors use fake names to win the contracts.
A senior officer from the project department said, “Once the debarred period is over, contractors can participate in the bids and can be chosen again for projects. But since these companies come with a tainted image, the GHMC will take precaution while reselecting them.”
Blacklisted get away by registering with state units
In Quthbullapur 15B circle, an executive engineer booked cases against 11 contractors of whom six were blacklisted and five escaped, stating they are not registered with the GHMC but with different state agencies.
Criminal cases were booked only when the engineer’s job was at stake. The engineers and contractors have a give-and-take relationship: The contractors get the projects and the engineers their kickbacks, it is alleged.
A zonal officer, (who did not want to be named) said, “Certain contractors have companies registered in the names, of their spouses or close relatives. If one company is barred, they participate in the tender process under another name. Secondly, certain contractors are registered with other parent agencies like the TS irrigation department and roads and buildings. If the contractor is blacklisted, the GHMC has to inform the parent department the contractor is registered with, as well as the principal secretary MA&UD, which is a long process. Also, if a contractor is booked and barred for one or two years, a recommendation from ministers or other senior officials in the government can revoke the punishment. This allows them to take part in the tendering system again.”
Of course, contractors cannot get away with such delinquency unless officials of the municipal corporation help them. In April this year, 18 contractors who allegedly fleeced the GHMC by submitting fake bills were arrested by the CCS police. In the same scam, worth Rs 1.8 crore, the police arrested 12 GHMC assistant engineers, who were also involved. In an official statement to the police, the arrested contractors revealed how civic officials guided them to manipulate bills and what kind of documents to submit during the financial month (March) to avoid an audit, and various other means to cheat the corporation.
