Public to have a say in tenders worth more than Rs 50 crore

The power of drafting tender conditions for large projects -- which was so far vested with the officers -- will be given to the ordinary citizens.

In a sweeping change to the way the tender process works, the state government has directed all departments to publish tender documents of projects costing more than Rs 50 crore in the public domain. What’s more, the department can float the tenders only after taking into account the suggestions given by the public.

These instructions are part of the letter written by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar. The letter follows a complaint filed by the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, Bengaluru, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the alleged large-scale irregularities and corrupt practices prevalent in departments such as Public Works Department, Minor and Major Irrigation, Panchayat Raj, BBMP and Health Department etc.

Bommai has specifically mentioned two committees -- one headed by a retired high court judge and another by technical and financial experts -- to review tenders of any works which are more than Rs 50 crore. The department concerned gets approval to float the tenders only after getting public feedback. The letter specifically mentions pre-qualification criteria and estimates should be scrutinized before the tender document gets approved.

The chief minister, whose image took a beating following the association’s letter to the PM, has directed all departments to scrutinize and conduct a detailed enquiry whenever irregularities are noticed. “To weed out the corrupt practices, time-bound clearances and approval of all contracts including awarding of works should be done. For this, a specific timetable has to be prepared and the same has to be strictly followed,” the letter, a copy of which is available with DH, said.

The letter also suggested a computer-generated system to generate bills, a centralised accounting system. Bommai also directed the chief secretary to come up with electronic format for submission of bills directly by the executive engineer to the accounts section.