Audit of all civil works over Rs 10 cr in last 3 yrs

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25

The government decided to get a third-party technical and financial audit done by reputed institutions of all municipal works over Rs10 crore undertaken in the past three years.

A meeting of the Local Government Department chaired by CM Capt Amarinder Singh decided to fix responsibility after identifying the lapses and initiate appropriate action against guilty officials.

The names of audit firms, which will submit their report within 30 days, under consideration, include PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst and Young, McKinzie and KPMG. The orders will be issued in the first week of May, an official said.

Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said e-governance was their priority to eliminate corruption, especially in project clearances and licences. As per the plan, 67 services and management functions will be computerised for corporations, councils and nagar panchayats; 22 for Improvement Trusts; 21 related to Administrative Functions and Complaints and Grievances at ULBs (corporations, councils, nagar panchayats and Improvement Trusts) in two phases.

The CM asked the department to prepare and notify a Draft Model Building Bylaws along with a policy for waste water recycling.

The Rs495.54-crore BRTS project in Amritsar, scheduled to be fully operational by August, was discussed. Earlier, in a presentation on ‘Agenda for Good Governance’, officials pointed out the MCs were not maintaining account books and had no accountability with respect to revenue and expenditure.

Private firms to be roped in

• The names of audit firms under consideration include PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst and Young, McKinzie and KPMG. The orders will be issued in the first week of May
• The firm will submit their report in 30 days