Thiruvananthapuram: The tender awarded by the PWD to a private company for the purchase and installation of CCTV cameras on the Kerala High Court premises has been cancelled following large-scale irregularities.
The tender invited by the executive engineer of the PWD Electronics Division without adhering to norms was nullified.
The inquiry committee led by the Chief Engineer found that the executive engineer, who is not authorised to invite tender for a work costing more than Rs 1 core, conducted tendering process for a work of Rs 5.75 crore and later entrusted the work with an unqualified company. The committee, later at a meeting, decided to cancel the work order.
An explanation has also been sought from the executive engineer, who gave the work order illegally. PWD Minister PA Mohammed Riyas sought a report on the issue on the basis of a departmental inquiry.
It was during last October that the PWD Electronics Division situated in Thrissur invited bids for purchasing CCTvs and installing them in the High Court . Only the chief engineer has the power to call such a tender above Rs 1 crore. But the executive engineer overstepped his jurisdiction and invited tenders for the work.
The contract was given to the private company by ignoring public sector units such as Keltron. The reasons for not considering Keltron's bid were unknown.
The rule is that any company, which participates in the tendering process for a work that costs more than Rs.5 crore, should submit pre-qualification records.
The private company, which won the bid, did not submit these records. The other rule that only A class-licensed PWD-approved contractor should undertake the work was not honoured. The license documents were also not submitted to the department.
It is said that this particular private company used to obtain most of the electronic-related works in the PWD.
The PWD Minister told Manorama that the government has received complaints regarding the tender process for the installation of CCTV cameras in the High Court.
A report after conducting a departmental inquiry has been sought. The government has a strong stand that it will not tolerate any such wrong tendencies, the minister added.
