CM Devendra Fadnavis orders probe into rate contract purchases

Fadnavis said the decision to buy chikki worth Rs 80 crore from a Sindhudurg-based organization, which has been under the opposition’s scanner, was based on a directive by the industries department signed by Congress’ Narayan Rane. Rane was the industries minister in the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition government.

“There was a directive issued by the Central Stores Purchase Organization signed by then industries minister Narayan Rane fixing a price for purchase of several items with Suryakanta Mahila Audyogik Sanstha, and directing all government departments to purchase only from this organization based on the prices fixed. This decision was questioned later, but Rane had overruled the objections,” Fadnavis said.

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An aggressive opposition, however, sustained the attack against Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde for graft saying purchases were done without fresh e-tendering. Munde awarded 24 such contracts for items such as chikkis, water purifiers, steel plates, plastic mats, growth monitoring machines etc for anganwadis on a single day on February 13, 2015. The department had explained the haste, saying that with the financial year soon ending, the funds made available by the Union government would have lapsed otherwise.

The opposition also questioned Tawde’s intent to push a contract worth Rs 191 crore for fire-fighting equipment in schools in the same manner, which was stopped after the finance department raised objections. Rate contracts are fixed by certain agencies for small value items such as stationary, steel furniture, polythene bags, mats, cycles and so on by certain agencies such as Directorate of Industries, Director General of Supplies and Disposals and so on by calling e-tenders. The contracts are generally valid for a year, though they can be extended.

Fadnavis said the general administration department headed by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had in 2013 directed that making e-tendering compulsory for purchases over a certain threshold did not apply to rate contracts, questioning the opposition’s main allegation of not e-tendering purchases. As per the directives, government departments can continue purchases based on rate contracts and resort to e-tendering only when a fresh rate contract needs to be put in place, the chief minister added.

NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, leader of opposition in the upper house, however, termed the state government’s response to the allegations an eyewash. “There is a modus operandi that can be seen in these purchases. There is no record of any demand being raised by anganwadis. Instead, contractors approach government departments and orders are placed for whatever products are available with them to sell. There are cases where rate contracts were made after receiving the companies’ proposals. There are also cases where proposals were altered midway without attributing any reason.”