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Shocker! 'Clean' Govt retains blacklisted firm for Srinagar Master Plan revamp
5/29/2015 12:12:17 AM
Abdul Majid

Early Times Report

Srinagar, May 28: The ruling PDP-BJP coalition, which had vowed to probe the alleged scams of the Omar Abdullah-led government, appears to follow the path laid down by the latter.
For instance, the Housing ministry which is headed by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh is pampering the "fraudulent million dollar deal" inked by the previous regime for revamp of the Srinagar Master Plan.
In 2011, the then Housing ministry, which was led by a minister from the Congress, handed over the work of midterm revamp of the Master Plan to a Hyderabad-based firm SAI Consultants. The work was allotted through Srinagar Development Authority (SDA).
SDA officials said the process for midterm review of the existing Master Plan (2000-2021) was initiated in 2010 and culminated with the engagement of the consulting firm in October 2011. "Agreement was signed with the consulting firm in February 2012 and the Master Plan review began in March 2012," official sources said.
However, there was a twist in the story in 2014 when it came to the fore that the firm which was allotted the contract had been actually blacklisted by the Central government for three years. Sources said SAI Consultants was found to have been blacklisted since 2011 by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, New Delhi, for "poor supervision and poor project management."
Though the Abdullah government remained silent over the issue, the matter was taken up during the Governor rule. In a meeting convened by the Secretary to the government, Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD), on October 30 2014, several discrepancies and deficiencies were pinpointed by the official stakeholders.
In view of the "glaring deficiencies", it was accordingly decided that the matter be referred to the Governor for "appropriate action."
As a follow-up, VC SDA vide communication vide no: SDA/VC/PS/50 dated: 30-12-2014, informed the government about the "performance failure" of the consulting firm entrusted with the job of revising the Srinagar Master Plan (2001-2020). But before any action could be taken, new government was in place.
Though PDP-BJP alliance could have sought an inquiry, the matter was ignored. In fact the BJP has seemingly backtracked from its assurance of weeding out corruption. For now Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh who is also the Housing Minister has been facilitating speedy completion of the Master Plan revamp by the blacklisted firm. "Instead of any inquiry, the Deputy Chief Minister recently called a mega 3-day convention at SKICC to boost the morale of the tainted firm," said a senior official at the SDA.
An official spokesman said, "Underscoring the need for making the new Master Plan for Srinagar more comprehensive, the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh said the experts involved in the revision of the Master Plan should come up with such a document so that it becomes a referral point for other cities of the country."
But Dr Singh avoided questions on the alleged scam in the allotment of the Master Plan revamp work. "Care should be taken to ensure that it comes up as a model one and lacunae if any should be removed", said the Deputy Chief Minister, according to the spokesman.
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