Sitting Jamshedpur West MLA and BJP veteran leader turned rebel Independent candidate from Jamshedpur East, Saryu Roy, on Monday resurrected the ghost of an old controversy in a bid to spook chief minister Raghubar Das, the sitting Jamshedpur East MLA.
“The chief minister says that there is no slur on his name. Can he answer why no action has been taken on the report on the committee of the five engineers-in-chief and thereafter report of the technical committee of vigilance which had held Raghubar Das responsible for appointment of Singapore-based consultant Meinhardt in violation of norms in 2005?” Roy told journalists at his residence here.
Roy, who has the reputation of being a whistleblower, has promised a series of exposés against Das.
“The government in 2003 had given task to prepare the preliminary project report (PPR) for sewerage and drainage in Ranchi to ORG Marg in 2003 for Rs 3 crore. The agency had submitted the PPR to the state government in 2005 so that alterations can be incorporated in the final detailed project report (DPR). However, when Raghubar Das was the state urban development minister in 2005, he cancelled the contract of ORG Marg and took out a global tender for appointment of a new consultant,” said Roy.
Roy, who then headed the Assembly committee to probe into the anomalies, alleged that the tender evaluation committee had termed all bidders as ineligible for the global tender. However, he said, Das called a meeting of the committee and suggested that instead of cancelling the tender the terms should be changed and the tenders re-evaluated.
“The condition of the tender stipulated that the bidders should deposit their last three years’ turnover, whose annual average should be Rs 40 crore. However, Meinhardt Company Limited deposited only two years’ turnover and yet was appointed as the consultant for Rs 24 crore by the then urban development minister (Das),” alleged Roy.
He pointed out that the Assembly committee he headed had rejected Meinhardt’s bid and recommended action against those involved in the firm’s appointment.
“Shri Raghubar Das had written to the then Assembly chairman twice so that the committee could not complete its investigation. The matter when to the high court which directed the applicant should go to the vigilance commissioner and if any anomaly is detected then action should be taken as per law,” said Roy.
He said the technical cell of the vigilance bureau found Meinhardt was appointed in violation of norms and there were errors both in publication of tenders and tender processing. A five-member team of engineers-in-chief, probing on the directive of the state government, had also found that Meinhardt appointment was in violation of norms.
“Instead of Rs 3 crore, Meinhardt was appointed for Rs 24 crore and no action was taken.... If even after that the chief minister says that there is no slur in his name then perhaps the definition of slur is somewhat different for our chief minister,” said Roy.
BJP East Singhbhum district president Dinesh Kumar Sahu, a relative of Das, refused to comment on Roy’s allegations. BJP state spokesperson Pratul Nath Shahdeo said: “For the party that chapter is closed and we would not like to comment on it.”