With polls hurtling down, Naik changes track

The problem began with the Corporation awarding contracts for book stalls at 12 stations to Higginbothams and A H Wheeler& Co two of the biggest names in the business, in late June. While A H Wheeler & Co bagged the tender forstalls at Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavli, Kudal, Sawantwadi, Karmali and Madgaon, Higginbothams was awarded the tender for setting up stalls at Karwar, Kumtha, Udupi and Surathkal.

The contracts were awarded through a limited tender entitling only these two firms to participate in the bid. This, despite the fact that the corporation’s policy was to give preference to those who had been displaced by the Konkan Rail Project.

Records show the participation of project-affected persons in tenders called by the Corporation has been dismal. Out of 58 applications for mobile trolleys at the stations, only 15 came from land-losers. A tender for 20 tea stalls too received just two applications from the preferred lot.’Moreover, the economics of the book stall business tilted the scale in favour of the two. The contract for the 58 stations along the route is valued at a hefty Rs 5 crore. But, for the firms, the potential of tapping a virgin market holds immense promise.

The limited tender ruffled the feathersof the Konkan Vruthpatra Vikreta Association (KVVA), an organisation formed by newspaper vendors along the Konkan belt of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The Association dashed off a letter to Naik complaining that the Corporation had gone back on its word.

Naik has since asked KRC Managing Director B Rajaram to right the wrong. “Even though the Association put in applications nearly six months ago, the corporation disregarded them,” Naik claimed. He directed the KRC to open fresh tenders for the stalls and asked that preference be given to project affected persons.

According to sources at A H Wheeler, the contract awarded to them as well as to Higginbothams contained a clause which said the company would employ only land-losers to operate the stalls. “We had also decided that a KRC official would be on our panel to interview potential stall-boys,” said the source. The KVVA seems to be aware of this clause. “Yes, the clause does exist, but what is the guarantee that the KRC and the companieswill stick to it?” asks KVVA president Gopinath Chavan.

Interestingly, though the Association boasts of 250-odd members, Chavan admitted that not one of them was a project-affected person. “But we have promised that preference will be given to the land-losers and then to cooperatives and after that, to the handicapped,” he added. Which effectively puts the KVVA in the same bracket as the other firms.Naik too had been informed about the existence of the clause by both the firms as well as KRC officials in the first week of July.

He claimed he wanted self-employment for the land-losers, and decided to opt for cancellation of the contract. This has led to allegations that Naik was playing the locals first’ card to garner votes at the Corporation’s expense. Naik vociferously denies that the decision is political. He claims he is only interested in giving employment to locals in Konkan. The major consumption in passengers’ reading material comprises newspapers and magazines, which local vendors can easilyprovide. Naik also felt government financing agencies like banks would help the applicants with funds.

Meanwhile, the KRC has refused to comment on the order. “It is an order of the minister, and will be complied with,” said a corporation spokesperson.This time, the tenders will be called for separately for the 58 stations on the route. Going by past experience, the response of the land-losers is likely to be negligible. Be that as it may, the loser will be the passenger.