Parrikar stalls Kamat govt’s bye bye decision to give Rs 600 crore contract to IT firm
Date:2012-03-10 *TEAM HERALD* *teamher...@herald-goa.com* *PANJIM*: The decision of the outgoing Digambar Kamat government to appoint an Udaipur-based IT company to set up a Radio Frequency Identification system, three days before elections, will be put on hold and subject to a review by the Parrikar government. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar asked for both the Principal Secretary Mines RK Verma as well as the Director of Mines and Geology, Arvind Lolienkar, why this was done in such haste. Both the officers said that the government had to comply with its promise to the High Court. The Chief Minister then asked it to be put on hold till the entire process of selecting E Connect Solutions Udaipur was examined. In fact, reacting to Heralds lead story on Friday on the issue, the Chief Minister confirmed that he has asked the Director Mines not to go ahead and implement the order. As reported, according to the order all mining companies will have to pay Rs 34 per tone of ore which leaves their mines. At 35-40 million tons as the production of iron ore annually, it amounts to about Rs 120 crore or Rs 600 crore in five years. The bureaucracy which took this decision, obviously with the concurrence of the political executive are internally using the following arguments to defend the decision. In the quarterly meeting of the Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) on monitoring and minimising delays in grant of approvals for mineral concessions, held on 20th September, 2011 in New Delhi, E-Connect, consultants to the State Government of Rajasthan, made a detailed presentation on the GIS linked tenements registry system prepared for the State Government of Rajasthan and the empowered committee had asked state governments to work with this company. However, this was not a system for monitoring ore transportation but mapping leases. The point here is not whether E Connect Solutions is a competent company or not. The point is if proper tendering procedures were followed. Now the questions: d) Was there a tendering committee which studied all the tenders e) Was there a technical bid. If so which were the companies shortlisted f) Which were the companies finally selected and asked to participate in the financial bid g) What were the final scores including the scores of L1 (the lowest bidder) and L2 (the second lowest bidder). The answer to these questions and the biggest one of them all, why couldn’t the government approach the court and ask for time till a new government takeover is critical. After all, the last decision taken by the outgoing government could turn out to be one of its most controversial. http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/Parrikar-stalls-Kamat-govt-rsquo-s-bye-bye-decision-to-give-Rs-600-crore-contract-to-IT-firm/57738.html COMMENT: NO COMMENT READERS CAN MAKE UP THEIR OWN MINDS OR AWAIT THE CONCLUSION TO THIS! -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------