SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: The Directorate of Vigilance has recommended to the government to constitute a three-member technical team to investigate the allegations of corruption made in the ongoing Kala Academy renovation work.
Two activists Sudip Tamhankar and Avinash Tavares had filed separate complaints alleging that all legal methods were bypassed and the tender of renovation worth around Rs 49.57 crore was granted to a selective company or persons even as Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude had claimed that all the requisite procedure were followed while tendering the work.
Tamhankar had filed his before the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), which found prima facie evidence in the matter and wanted a technical report to register the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. But the ACB found that the technical section of the Vigilance department was defunct.
But at the same time, Tavares had filed his complaint before the Vigilance department, who clubbed both the complaints and recommended the government form a technical committee to conduct a probe.
It said that the three-member technical committee be comprised of an academic engineer from the Goa Engineering College, an engineer from Goa State Infrastructure and Development Corporation (GSIDC) and an engineer from the Goa Architecture College. It has clearly said that no engineer from PWD be appointed since the department was undertaking the renovation work.
Earlier, Tamhankar had said that the ACB had closed his complaint stating that there was no material to substantiate the contents of the complaint as required under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Tavares in his complaint against Minister Govind Gaude and the PWD officials had alleged that the renovation works of Kala Academy were awarded to M/s Techton Buildcon Pvt Ltd, through the nomination process which is a violation of the guidelines set for procurement of works by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Central Vigilance Commission guidelines, extant guidelines of GFR in force and Central PWD Rules.
According to Tavares, the guidelines set for procurement of works by the Department of Expenditure clearly state that under some special circumstances, it may become necessary to select a particular Agency where adequate justification is available for such single-source selection in the context of the overall interest of the Ministry or Department
The PWD and the Directorate of Art and Culture had justified their decision of nominating the agency since it was carrying out similar work of renovating Goa Bhavan in Mumbai. But he claimed that the Goa Bhavan works cannot be compared with the architectural complexity and challenges of the Kala Academy.
