Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday constituted two committees to be headed by retired Judges to scrutinise the alleged kickbacks by the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association in the tender processes and estimation of amounts by the government departments and ordered a probe to ensure transparency in the process, said the Chief Minister. Karnataka State Contractors’ Association in July this year submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the contractors are forced to pay more than 40 percent of the project cost as a bribe to the government officers, concerned Ministers, legislators, Lok sabha members and other officials of the concerned departments. Speaking to media persons he said, “Chief Secretary has been instructed to take appropriate action if any irregularities have been committed in the tender process. I have instructed for special scrutiny into the tenders which have been finalised after I assumed office as the Chief Minister. I have ordered bringing a system that generates the bills automatically based on the work executed by the contractors and the seniority. Tenders should be completed within the set timeframe as any delay gives scope for suspicion.” “Any irregularities in the tender process would come out during the scrutiny. Though the recent letter written by the contractors to the Prime Minister in this regard does not contain any specific information, a probe has been ordered to ensure transparency,” Bommai said. One being asked about the provision of crop loss compensation, he said, “the state government has taken all the necessary measures to ensure immediate disbursal of crop loss compensation to affected farmers. Money is directly transferred to farmers’ account immediately after the crop loss survey report is uploaded in Parihara App,” Bommai said. Earlier on Tuesday, Bommai has instructed the officials to transfer the compensation amount for the heavy losses of crops suffered due to the destruction caused by incessant rains to affected farmers’ accounts immediately after accessing the details being uploaded to Relief App based on the GPS survey.
