Tender norms being breached to favor a firm : Former Deputy Mayor of Shimla seeks intervention of World Bank
A World Bank team is likely to visit Shimla shortly for the appraisal of various projects. Former Deputy Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Tekinder Singh Panwar informed that he had sought intervention from the WB team about the breaching of tender norms to favour a firm.
In a letter written to the Country Director of World Bank Today, Mr. Panwar said that he had informed the Bank about performance-based contracts, and objections were also raised by the WB about the breaching of tender norms. He said that there are blatant violations in the tender process, which indicates deep connivance of officials of the water utility with a particular company that is almost certain to win the contract.
He said that the continuous change in tender conditions showed that the norms had been trampled to suit just one of the players in the market. He said that after the WB objected to the tender process, it was split into two contracts. Earlier, it was a single contract.
“The project was designed to increase the efficiency and provide better utility services in an integrated manner. However, it has been more than 6 years since the project was commissioned, but it is still in the tendering phase.” letter mentions.
He said that a bank team is visiting Shimla by the second week of April 2023, and he seeks an appointment with the team for the betterment of the project and to bring transparency to the ongoing project.
