NHAI report to CBI proves Dubey right, contract rules being rewritten

Nearly two years after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project manager Satyendra Dubey was killed after he complained to the Pri...

Nearly two years after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project manager Satyendra Dubey was killed after he complained to the Prime Minister’s Office about corruption on a Bihar stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral, his organisation has admitted to substance in his charges.

Apart from several in-house inquiries (some are underway), the NHAI says radical reforms are being carried out in selection and contract procedures for highway projects.

This admission come in the form of a lengthy report the NHAI submitted last month to the CBI which is investigating the Dubey murder. The case is also being monitored by the Supreme Court.

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The NHAI reforms include introduction of a ‘pear review’ of Detail Project Reports by independent experts, modification of the system of sanctioning mobilisation and equipment advances which will ‘‘henceforth be sanctioned in a phased manner linked to progress of the project.’’

The NHAI’s listing of the actions, corrective measures taken vindicates Dubey’s allegations on several counts.

STEPS NHAI TOOK

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

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