Public Health Engineering Minister Neeraj Kumar.
– Photo : Amar Ujala
Expansion
The Bihar government is busy scrutinizing the files of the previous grand alliance government. The Bihar government has cancelled the tenders of Rs 3600 crore for rural water supply works issued during the grand alliance government. Public Health Engineering (PHED) Minister Neeraj Kumar Singh said that flaws were found in the tenders issued during the grand alliance government, after which this decision was taken. Now the department will issue revised tenders for the work as soon as possible.
Minister Neeraj Kumar Singh said that this decision has been taken after a departmental investigation. The investigation found that proper procedure was not followed in issuing these tenders and enough areas were not covered.
He said that the department has cancelled tenders worth Rs 3600 crore related to rural water supply system during the previous Mahagathbandhan government. Earlier, we had cancelled 350 tenders worth Rs 826 crore of PHE department. So far, the department has cancelled tenders worth more than Rs 4,400 crore finalised during the previous government.
He said the investigation revealed that proper procedure was not followed in the tender process. Adequate areas were also not covered. Now the department will issue revised tenders for the work as soon as possible. Singh said these tenders were related to rural water supply works, which include installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems.
He said that after receiving the investigation report, I had recently called a meeting of senior officials of the department. After that meeting, an order was issued to cancel these tenders. RJD leader Lalit Yadav was the PHED minister during the previous government. Singh said that a total of 1,160 tenders worth Rs 4600 crore of the PHE department were issued during the previous government. He refused to give details about the irregularities found.
He said that so far we have installed 1,500 hand pumps in different parts of the state. The process is on to install three thousand more hand pumps in new areas. The minister said that the government has decided to install solar mini piped water supply system with treatment unit in the rural areas of the state. In January, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke ties with RJD and returned to the BJP-led NDA. Soon after the NDA returned to power, the government ordered a review of all the decisions taken by the departments of RJD ministers.