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| Tendering or no tendering! PHE's RTI replies confusing | | Hiring of private vehicles | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 7: Jammu and Kashmir government's Public Health Engineering (PHE) department seems to have resorted to arbitrariness while replying to an applicant's queries filed under Right to Information Act.
The applicant had asked the department to furnish details about mode with which the department procures tankers and other vehicles. PHE Department has given four different replies to same question about the same period in four RTI's replied by it. In reply to RTI no: PHEJ/GE/10695-720 Dated 03-10-2012, department vide its letter no: PHERM/988-90 dated 16-10-2012 has claimed of hiring water tankers at the rates approved through tenders from the last 15 years. The department has said that there are 10 departmental water tankers and 6 private water tankers engaged in the PHE Mechanical Rural Division at Rs. 425 per day. Two light vehicles have also been engaged for maintenance works at different pumping stations in Manwal, Jhajjar Kotli, Domail, Nagrota, Raipur Domana, Marh, R.S.Pura, Bishnah, Birpur, Sidhra and Bamyal villages at Rs. 300, the department has said. It has added that the vehicles have been engaged through proper tendering process. Department has clarified that number of tankers vary from time to time as per the demand from civil counterparts to meet the requirement of providing potable water to inhabitants of rural areas under the jurisdiction of PHE rural division Jammu. Petrol is issued to these vehicles as per the actual mileage covered and is recorded in the log books. However, in reply to PHEJ/GE/10721-46 Dated 03-10-2012; PHE department vide letter no: PHERM/985-87 dated 16-10-2012 has contradicted the earlier information stating that rates of vehicles hired by the department have been approved by Superintending Engineer vide letter no: SE/PHEJ/1341-46 dated 26-05-1997. The total amount spent on hiring of private vehicles amounted to Rs. 26.94 lakh. Similar assertion has been made by PHE in reply to another RTI filed under no: PHEJ/PS/10221-46 dated 03-10-2012 has said that vehicles in the GWD drilling division are hired after inviting tenders. This has been replied vide letter no: GWD/5148-49 dated 29-10-2012. Six vehicles both light and heavy have been engaged on Rs. 565 per day for areas of District Samba, Kathua, Doda, Nagrota, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch, PHE has stated in reply to the RTI. When the officials were asked about this brazen wrong information, they said "We have replied to what was asked. There is nothing wrong in the information. It is about two divisions of the PHE and one should not get confused." About the tenders, the officials said that rates are approved after hiring the vehicles and not before the vehicles are actually engaged by the department.
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