CSMC officers face inquiries from 3 agencies

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC), enforcement directorate (ED) and local police are probing the CSMC officers in the tender process scam in the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). As three agencies are probing the matter at a time, the officers are worried about the inquiry.

CSMC following an administrative inquiry served notices to the concerned six officers, said administrator Dr Abhijeet Chaudhary on Monday.

The contractor cheated CSMC by adopting a ring system in the tender process of PMAY. The administration lodged a complaint against 19 directors of various companies. The city police’s economic offense wing is presently investigating the matter. Two days back, ED also conducted raids on the houses and offices of the contractors in the city. The state government also set up an inquiry committee headed by the principal secretary to investigate the matter. The committee observed several discrepancies in the tender process. The urban development department has sought clarification from the officers included in the tender committee. Accordingly, the then additional commissioner B B Nemane, deputy commissioner Aparna Thete, then city engineer Sakharam Panzade, then town planning deputy director A B Deshmukh, chief accounts officer Santosh Wahule and others have been serviced notices, Dr Chaudhary said.

10 contractors interested in PMAY

CSMC had published an advertisement for the construction of 6,080 houses under PMAY. A pre-bidding meeting in this regard was held on Monday in which 10 contractors participated. The meeting was held in the cabin of administrator Dr Abhijeet Chaudhary. The contractors took information about the terms and conditions for the tender. They also made some suggestions. These suggestions will be considered and then the tender process will be implemented, Chaudhary said.

Earlier, based on the complaint lodged by deputy commissioner Aparna Thete, a case was registered against Samrath Construction Company in the earlier tender scam.