Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd which has been dogged by controversies and allegations for inefficient management, nepotism and incompetence of a the concerned authority is now facing a Public Interest Litigation for blatant irregularities relating to tenders.
Of late Anup Bhowmik, a resident of Udaipur’s Rajarbag and a former project engineer of TSECL, filed the PIL in the High Court of Tripura over irregularity in the tendering process for implementation of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
The central government sanctioned Rs. 356 crore for Tripura under the scheme. But, as per the PIL, the rural people are getting deprived of the benefit following vested interest of a section of TSECL officials.
The Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited had invited four tenders worth Rs. 160 crore according to which a Raipur-based company among other companies participated in the tender process.
The PIL alleged that Raipur’s company had been approved in the technical bid without having eligibility and the TSECL had cancelled all the tenders after opening the final bid due to an unknown reason.
The tender was invited again and the Raipur based company got passed in the technical bid this time too. Besides, the same company got L-1 in the finance bid of all tenders and subsequently got the work orders.
The PIL also mentioned that the company was allowed by the TSECL to supply transformers even though the calibration certificate submitted by the company had no validity.
Under the scheme, various works—extension of 1500 km 11-KV transmission line, 2000 km LT line and installation of 544 transformers—were supposed to be completed. The deadline for such works is December 31, 2021. But as of now, only 45 percent of the work has been completed.
According to the PIL, a section of TSECL officials misused their power and helped the Raipur’s company get the work orders.
Some of the major irregularities included submission of wrong information in experience certificate, submission of validity expired calibration certificate and lack in safety plan.
