The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit report has identified irregularities in the tender allocation process for Jal Jeevan Mission schemes in Jharkhand. The audit found that work was awarded to contractors who did not meet prescribed eligibility conditions, while deficiencies in documentation, limited competition and suspected collusion were also flagged in some tenders.
The CAG examined 39 tenders as samples for the audit. Of these, seven tenders were found to have been awarded to the same contractor or agency.
One tender valued at about ₹54.05 crore required the contractor to submit accounts for the previous five financial years to assess turnover from civil works. The audit found that the concerned contractor submitted complete accounts for only two years, while incomplete documents were submitted for the remaining three years. Despite this, the tender was awarded.
The tender conditions also specified the availability of engineers and technical resources, including drilling machines, required to complete the work.
According to the CAG, the concerned agency provided details of these resources in a single list for all seven works and was accepted as eligible on that basis.
The audit raised questions over the process. It noted that if the technical resources required for different projects had to be available simultaneously, accepting eligibility for all tenders on the basis of a single list raised questions over the transparency of the process.
The CAG also noted limited competition in the allocation of tenders. In five tenders across two divisions of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, only two contractors participated. Three tenders were awarded to one contractor and two to the other.
Subsequently, similar tenders in the Garhwa and Jamshedpur divisions were awarded to the same two contractors as a joint venture. In view of these circumstances, the CAG raised the possibility of collusion in the tender allocation process.
The audit report also raised questions over the process of purchasing demand drafts. The CAG suspected that the bidding process may have been influenced through mutual collusion in the purchase of demand drafts.
The report also found that contractors in some schemes were paid 100 percent instead of the prescribed 85 percent payment.
The CAG's findings have raised questions over the tender process, contractor eligibility and payment arrangements under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Jharkhand.
