Rs 116-crore computerisation project under scanner,chief secy calls for review

Documents in possession of The Indian Express show that Punjab Infotech asked TCS to execute the project for Rs 116 crore following an open bidding process in 2010 even though another company,CMC,was found to have offered to do the same work for Rs 74 crore.

Besides,Punjab Infotech allowed both CMC and TCS to bid separately for the project,despite the fact that the two companies are sister concerns. Interestingly,after the technical evaluation,these were the only two companies left in the fray for the government to choose from.

While the initial cost of the project mooted by the government was Rs 68 crore,the entire process cost the government almost double the amount envisaged to be spent.

In 2010,Punjab Infotech had under its then MD Rakesh Verma started the bidding process and advertised for a “implementation partner”. Six companies — TCS,CMC,Mahindra,Satyam,NIIT,Infosys and HP — were among those who qualified to send in technical bids. However,only TCS and CMC scored over 70 per cent in the technical evaluation. When the financial bids were opened,instead of handing over the project to the lowest bidder,CMC was subjected to further evaluation where technical competence was given more weightage over the financial component. TCS had been rated so highly technically that no other company stood a chance even after the financial bids were opened.

Punjab Infotech did not undertake any negotiations with TCS to reduce the bid amount in view of the much lower bid received.

“This bidding process,where technical evaluation is reintroduced after financial bid,is called the quality and cost basis and is done in all prestigious projects. A screening committee of the government headed by then chief secretary S C Agrawal discussed the issue of TCS and CMC having a common ownership. The committee decided that the two companies be allowed to bid,as elsewhere in the country as well,the two companies have been allowed to bid for government projects,” said Rakesh Verma,when asked about the bidding process.

The execution of the project began in 2011. Even though TCS was chosen for its high quality and competence in executing similar projects in Gujarat,the system is functioning far from satisfactorily. “I am not satisfied with the way TCS is executing the systems. We have asked them to better their performance,” said Punjab Infotech MD Anurag Verma.

Former MD of Punjab Infotech,Rakesh Verma,however,said TCS was executing the process as expected. “There were no complaints as long as I was there. Many of the administrative secretaries,who are complaining about the project to the chief secretary,were part of the decision making process of the project. They need to increase the usage of the systems to appreciate them,” he said.

When contacted,Jatinder Ahuja of TCS said that TCS was executing the project on behalf of Punjab Infotech and it was for them to comment on its functioning. “We cannot comment on the execution of any project,” he added.

The Department of Information Technology,which was the administrative department for the project,was also not involved in the process by Punjab Infotech. A three-page letter was written by the then principal secretary (IT) Sarvesh Kaushal in June 2011 to Agrawal,pointing out that an approval of the empowered committee on computerisation is essential for all projects costing over Rs 5 crore. But his letter went unheeded.

Sources added that NIC,which is an in-house company of the Centre,is doing the same work in the Haryana secretariat for free. The IWDMS component called the “E-office” by NIC is also being implemented in several other states.