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CAG suspects fresh irregularities in CWG scam

Last Updated 17 September 2014, 19:28 IST

The ghosts of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam is set to haunt the UPA again as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) suspects irregularities in procuring of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) equipment for the 2010 sporting event.

 In the on-going audit inspection, the CAG wants to know from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) why defective CBRN equipment were purchased through a non-transparent bidding process which would have put the games at risk in case of a chemical and biological attack.

 Though the NDMA stated that there were no “functional” problems and, in fact, the equipment performed effectively, the CAG has termed their response as “factually incorrect” since they were rectified by two supplier PSUs–Bharat Electricals Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL)–only in December 2010, after the games were over and when flagged by the then director-general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).  The techno-commercial proposal of the ECIL was of Rs 796.99 crore, while that of the BEL was of Rs 220 crore.

The NDMA also appeared to have dragged its feet on recovering “liquidated damage” of Rs 67.34 lakh from the two PSUs for delayed supply of items.

When the CAG red-flagged the issue during the inspection, the NDMA informed them that they recovered penal dues from BEL in the first quarter of this year and the process was on in case of the ECIL.

The audit now brings focus on the then NDMA vice-chairman M Shashidhar Reddy. A Congress leader from Telangana, Reddy, too, may have to do a bit of explaining if the CAG goes ahead with inspections to submit its critical findings to Parliament.

Reddy, along with other members, were forced to resign after the NDA came to power in May. In 2009, the NDMA was given the responsibility for purchasing of CBRN equipments by the Ministry of Home Affairs for which global tenders were to be floated in January 2010. 

Instead of going global, the NDMA invited bids from two PSUs, BEL and ECIL, on the grounds of paucity of time as the games were scheduled for October of that year.
The NDMA, which is headed by the prime minister,  defended its decision by stating the MHA had vetted the process.

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(Published 17 September 2014, 19:15 IST)

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