Explainer: Despite making Rs 15 crore loss, sanitation contracts extended up to Dec in Panipat

THE Municipal Corporation (MC), Panipat, is in the limelight for corruption in sanitation contracts after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) booked 12 MC officials and owners of two sanitation companies for making a revenue loss of Rs 15.84 crore to the exchequer in two years. Once again the inquiry revealed the connivance of the MC officials with the contractors. The inquiry officials recommended the cancellation of the sanitation contracts and registration of a case against the erring officials in 2023. Despite the recommendation, the officials extended the contracts up to December 2025.

1. When were the sanitation contracts allotted?

TThe MC, Panipat, had allotted the sanitation tenders after dividing the city into four zones in May 2022. The tender had been allotted for Rs 3.55 crore per month for cleanliness to two companies - IND Sanitation Solutions Private Limited in Zone 1 and Zone 2 and Puja Consulation company in Zone 3 and Zone 4. The tender for Zone 1 was allotted for Rs 88.70 lakh per month and Zone 2 for Rs 94.90 lakh per month to the IND Sanitation Solution company while the tenders for Zone 3 was allotted for Rs 84.36 lakh per month and for Zone 4 for Rs 82.36 lakh to Puja Consulation.

2. How did the tenders come under the scanner?

The sanitation contracts were under the scanner from the beginning. After which an anonymous complaint reached the Chief Minister in which allegations were made in allotment of tenders. Following the complaint regarding malpractices in the allotment of cleanliness tenders, including sweeping, garbage management, cleaning of the drains a joint team of Chief Minister's flying squad (CMFS) along with State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) now Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had conducted a raid in Panipat and Sonepat Municipal Corporation offices on September 15, 2022, as the tenders had been allotted to both companies in both districts. The team seized the records and after thorough investigations, a scam was detected in the allotment of tenders.

3. What shortcomings were found in the investigation by the ACB?

The ACB inquiry reports unearthed the connivance between the officials and the contractors. According to the report, the officials had held a pre-bid meeting on April 18 but signed the document on April 19, 2022. In the document, the officials mentioned that no firm had participated in the pre-bid meeting while in another document of April 20, 2022, the officials said the representatives of two companies participated in the pre-bid meeting held on April 18. The advertisement regarding the tender had to be given in three newspapers but was given in some other state's edition in only one newspaper. Besides, the companies showed a total of 1,259 sanitation employees on paper, but during the physical verification, the number was less by 412 employees. The MC, Panipat, had made payments regularly to 1,259 employees in the company's bills. The MC officials in-connivance with the contractor companies made a loss of Rs 66 lakh per month for two years, which is nearly Rs 15.84 crore.

4. How many officials were booked and under what sections?

Following the ACB reports a case was registered at the ACB police station at Karnal against contractor RajKumar Hooda, owner Pooja Consulation Company; contractor Sandeep Khatri, IND Sanitation Solution Private Limited; Jitender Kumar the then Deputy Municipal Commissioner; Pradeep Kalyan, Executive Engineer (XEn); Accountant Ajay Kumar, Vinod Kumar; JE Ajay Chhokker; Rinku and Jitender, Chief Sanitary Inspector (CSI); Gurmeet, Assistant Sanitation Inspector; Pritam Singh, Deputy Director (audit); Surender Nandal and Kuldeep Singh, Section Officers and Dinesh, Chief Accounts Officer of the MC, Panipat, have been booked under Sections 120-B, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 of the IPC and Section 13 (2), 13 (1) (a) and 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

5. What is the status of sanitation contracts at present?

As per the terms and conditions of the contracts - the sanitation tenders were allotted to Pooja Consulation and IND Sanitation Solution company for two years from May 2022 to May 2024. However, the ACB inquiry reports made it clear that how the officials in connivance with the sanitation company owners made a loss of over Rs 15 crore to the exchequer in two years, but still the same firms were maintaining sanitation and cleanliness contract of Panipat. The tenders had ended on May 13, 2024 but the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Department has extended the tenders of the firms up to December 2025. The MC was paying full payment to the companies every month for the last four months.