Haryana's village e-tendering imbroglio

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

ONE needs to travel through battered roads along wheat fields while avoiding dumper trucks and carts pulled by bullocks on a two-lane track to reach Badona Kalan village in the Raipur Rani block of Panchkula district. Loose gravel and flying sand along crushers on one side and an upcoming township on the other side welcome you as you reach close to the village.

Having a population of around 1,500, the village has elected a graduate sarpanch, Rohit Kumar (34), this time. A first-time sarpanch, he didn’t join the sarpanches’ protest against e-tendering taking place over 30 km away in Panchkula city.

Sarpanches from across the state had converged in Panchkula for a march to Chandigarh but faced lathicharge on March 1, and then forceful eviction on March 4 as they wanted to retain the decades-old practice of executing developmental works on their own, and not through e-tendering. Their spending limit is Rs 5 lakh now, down from Rs 20 lakh earlier.

Unperturbed by protests, the Badona Kalan gram panchayat comprising seven panches and Kumar passed a resolution on March 7 for the renovation of a community hall. A Junior Engineer in the Block Development Panchayat Office (BDPO) made an estimate of Rs 7.23 lakh. After the grant of administrative approval by the gram panchayat, the e-tender was floated on the Haryana Engineering Works Portal (HEPW). Initially, the limit to execute works through quotation was Rs 2 lakh. Following the sarpanches’ protest, the government revised it to Rs 5 lakh.

“We have no issues. This fundamental change for the execution of works through e-tendering is free of corruption allegations. There is transparency. Quality work is expected,” says Kumar.

There is no computer in the gram panchayat but Kumar checks his village’s tender on his smartphone. “There was just one bidder so it has to be floated again,” he says. He is well-versed in the e-tendering process, thanks to BDPO officials. “Sometimes, one needs to get something executed in an emergency. Then this limit of Rs 5 lakh could prove to be an obstacle,” adds Kumar.

A three-time panch, Bakshi Ram says, “Earlier, the sarpanch used to get works executed on his own by engaging local masons and labourers. This change is better.”

Kumar, however, complains about the honorarium given to sarpanches. It has been recently raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per month. “My whole day goes into meeting people and resolving issues. The honorarium of Rs 5,000 is quite less. It should be at least Rs 15,000,” he says.

Over 50 km from Badona Kalan, Nanakpur village in Pinjore block (Panchkula district) touches the boundary with Himachal Pradesh. Lush green wheat fields along the road with a view of hills in front greet you as you enter the village. Having a population of about 4,500, Nanakpur elected Bhupinder Singh, who is also a first-time sarpanch. He couldn’t join the sarpanches’ protest in Panchkula but says he supports their call for enhancing the spending limit.

“A sarpanch’s spending limit should be extended to Rs 20 lakh. He is accountable for the quality of work. A contractor will complete his work and go away. People will anyway question the sarpanch,” says Singh.

Despite his opposition to e-tendering, the gram panchayat of Nanakpur has allotted a tender for a 400-foot link road to a contractor. “I don’t know the contractor,” he says.

Educated till Class 10, Singh, who works as a property dealer, doesn’t know how e-tendering works.

The renovation of a ‘mahila kendra’ for Rs 7.93 lakh and a library for Rs 4 lakh have also been floated through e-tendering for the village after Singh and his panches passed the resolutions. “We rely on grants from the government for the execution of works. The protest is more in villages of other districts that have their own substantial income,” Singh sums up the sarpanches’ protest. He also raises the demand of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 honorarium.

Back in Chandigarh, officials in the Directorate office say that hardly a day used to go by when they didn’t receive a complaint of corruption against a sarpanch. At present, 1,490 inquiries are going on against sarpanches, with 90 per cent related to corruption and 10 per cent to procedural lapses, says an official.

The maximum number of inquiries is about sarpanches of Nuh at 162, followed by 94 from Karnal, 84 each from Hisar and Jind, 83 from Rewari, 82 each from Palwal and Panipat, and 80 from Jhajjar.

The last audit report of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), prepared by the Local Audit Department of the state government, for 2017-18, mentioned the misappropriation of Rs 3.06 crore in gram panchayats. It included Rs 2.44 crore in 299 panchayats which were either not handed over or ‘less handed over’ by ex-sarpanches while passing the baton to their successors. Also, in 21 panchayats, embezzlement of Rs 51.86 lakh was detected by wrong working out of the closing balance or less carrying forward the closing balance, and non-accounting of income in the Panchayat Cash Book.

A total of Rs 61.19 lakh of irregular or excess expenditure was detected in 262 panchayats, while Rs 69.04 lakh was found paid in terms of fees to private advocates in 149 panchayats for defending court cases in different courts, in excess of the limit prescribed.

The irregular expenditure included the amount incurred on the carriage of material though the purchase of material could not be pointed out, irregular employment of Class IV employees, payments made to masons or labourers without approval, and heavy amounts incurred on levelling shamlat land given on lease though it has to be paid by the lessees.

Speaking on e-tendering and the sarpanches’ protest in the Vidhan Sabha, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that some sarpanches have even reasoned that they have spent money on polls and are worried about contracts being handed over to the unknown.

It is Ranbir Singh Samain, 41, who as president of the Sarpanch Association Haryana is rallying around village representatives against e-tendering. Hailing from Tohana, the constituency of Development and Panchayats Minister Devender Singh Babli, he comes from Samain village, having a population of 16,000-17,000.

“I come from the largest village in Tohana. Right from December 31, 2022, I started contacting sarpanches on phone. After reaching out to sarpanches of several districts, the first mahapanchayat was organised in Tohana on January 15,” he says.

On January 18, the sarpanches gathered in Rohtak and formed a committee. Samain, who is a postgraduate, led the village representatives in the Panchkula protest and now has announced a protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.

“The state government is trying to defame us in the name of corruption. We are not against the e-tendering process. It used to be there earlier too but for bigger works. We are against the intention of the government to take away our rights. In the earlier system of quotations, too, the SDO/JE used to make estimates. The real reason is that people in the government want to earn commission through panchayats,” he adds.

The Khattar government has allocated around Rs 850 crore for gram panchayats, which will lapse by March 31. Till Friday, there were still 1,971 gram panchayats out of 6,220 which had not passed any resolution for developmental works. Kurukshetra, Bhiwani and Ambala districts top in panchayats that didn’t pass any resolutions.

Development and Panchayats Minister Devender Singh Babli says, “We have brought e-tendering to stop corruption. It will increase transparency and accountability. Earlier, the system was manual, which has no accountability, but now through e-tendering, a common man can also monitor spending.” On Samain’s challenge that ministers, MLAs, and MPs will not be allowed in villages, Babli replied, “No one can take the law into their own hands. Otherwise, we will take action. Sarpanches are elected representatives. They have a right to protest and held protests too. We are elected representatives too. We have a right to go to people.”

What the new rules say

• Development works of up to Rs 5 lakh can be executed by gram panchayat on a quotation basis, without following e-tendering.
• Such works of up to Rs 5 lakh shall not exceed Rs 25 lakh or half of the total available Gram Fund, whichever is lower during the financial year.
• For works above Rs 5 lakh, e-tendering has to be followed.
• Honorarium of sarpanches has been enhanced from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 and of panches from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,600.
• A sarpanch will also be able to record his comments in the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of the Gram Sachiv.
• For the quality of works carried out on a quotation basis, sarpanches will be responsible.
• Technical staff will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the development executed through e-tendering.