Malkangiri: The beneficiaries in Malkangiri district who received tool kits for masonry, carpentry etc., have alleged that the kits were of poor quality. They threatened to launch a protest if the culprits behind the ‘scam’ were not arrested.
Reports said 10,000 toolkits costing Rs 5,000 each were supplied for distribution to beneficiaries in the seven blocks of Malkangiri district — Malkangiri, Mathili, Khairput, Chitrakonda, Korkunda, Kalimela and Padia. The kits cost nearly Rs 5 crore, and around 2,000 kits have already been distributed to beneficiaries.
Sources said the administration distributed work tools, masonry kits, carpentry kits, painter kits and safety equipment to labourers, but the beneficiaries said there was corruption in the procurement of the kits.
The tender for the kits which was published on the district portal has a lot of irregularities, and the administration violated rules by allotting the tender to a particular vendor, they alleged.
The labour commissioner-cum-member secretary, OB&OCWWB, had strictly directed all district labour officers to procure the kits only from reputed wholesalers in the district. This seems to have been violated by the Malkangiri administration.
The labour commissioner had also directed to frame a standard procedure for procuring the material which seems to have been violated by the district administration.
While the tender notification was released to procure 10,000 kits costing Rs 5,000 each for farmers there were lots of irregularities by the administration, the beneficiaries said.
The district labour officer had stipulated certain terms and conditions for the bidders while releasing the tender, but later the administration allegedly ignored all the conditions for procuring the equipment.
The bidders had to supply ISO marked products, but not a single product supplied had ISO marking.
The beneficiaries said as elections are approaching and fearing imposition of the election code of conduct the administration distributed poor quality kits to them. The administration also dispensed with the condition to inspect the quality of the kits before distributing them.
The public here has demanded a high-level probe into the supply of the kits and to arrest everyone involved in the matter.
PNN