With Churchill out, PWD now hires cars from MGP turf
GERARD DE SOUZA
gerard@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Public Works Department spends a whooping Rs 9.22 crore on hiring opulent private vehicles from contractors mostly based in Ponda taluka, from where PWD Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar and his two MGP colleagues hail.
Multi-Purpose Vehicles and Sports Utility Vehicles are being hired out for between Rs 1200 to Rs 1500 a day and shockingly they are used to ferry kids, possibly of PWD engineers, to and from school; to pick and drop engineers who may not be eligible for vehicles, from their homes; as well as ferrying them for other personal visits. Needless to say the log books are cleverly doctored, sources disclosed.
Though former PWD minister Churchill Alemão was in the firing line for extravagant expenditure on hiring vehicles for PWD from Salcete and Dhavalikar had assured he would not renew the contracts of the excess vehicles once their tenure expires, things do not seem to have changed much on the ground.
Figures sourced from a reply given in the legislative Assembly by Dhavalikar himself to a question speak for themselves.
Out of the 205 vehicles hired by the PWD for use of official purposes half of them — 101, give or take a few — are from contractors hailing from within the borders of the Ponda taluka, a stronghold of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
Surprisingly, most vehicles hired by the PWD are not small or mid-sized vehicles but in almost all cases they are large Multi-Purpose Vehicles (MPVs) such as Toyota Innova and Mahindra Xylo, as well as Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) like the Mahindra Scorpio and Mahindra Bolero. These are hired at an average rate ranging from Rs 12-15 per kilometre subject to the minimum of being run for 100 kms per day.
This means the Department is spending Rs 1200 to 1500 per vehicle per day whether they run for 100 kms on that day or not. If a vehicle runs more than 100 kms a day they are paid the rate per kilometre extra at the rate of 12-15 per kilometre.
At that rate the Department is spending close to Rs 3-lakh a day on hired vehicles working out to Rs 9.22 crore a year, if one leaves out Sundays and holidays, presuming that vehicles are not used on these days.
Just 25 of these vehicles are actually deployed for duty within Ponda Taluka while the rest are used by work divisions in all talukas across the State. It is only in Sattari, that vehicles sourced from contractors in Ponda are not deployed. Sattari also has the least private vehicles with just four of them deployed there.
Ironically, the PWD began hiring private vehicles following a finance department directive banning the purchase of new vehicles citing a financial crunch in the government. While the hiring of vehicles can be justified for public use and in completing the work entrusted with the PWD, the scam lies in where they are actually also used.
Sources in the PWD confirm what can be seen in plain sight. If one were to wait outside any prominent city school, the vehicles hired are being used to ferry kids, possibly of PWD engineers, to and from school, to pick up engineers from their homes, dropping them back, as well as ferrying them for other personal visits despite this being against protocol as well as keeping the vehicles at their beck and call even at their own homes for the night.
Purportedly, these vehicles are also used to pick up and drop engineers of the scale who are not entitled to a vehicle. Ironically, each Work Department of the PWD maintains a logbook of each vehicle that is under their charge. In this logbook the details of each trip are supposed to be maintained, including odometer reading before the start of the trip and odometer reading at the end of it, reason for trip, place of trip etc.
However, sources in the know, allege that often the entries in the logbook are fudged and the mileage logged on non-official trips are added to those of official trips, especially those trips that are made before and after office hours for pick up and drops of engineers. Thus leaving no ‘paper trail’ behind.
Interestingly, the information has revealed WD III of Public Health Engineering has deployed a maximum number of vehicles under its care to areas in Ponda despite it being based at St Inez, Panjim.
PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar was not available for a comment, when Herald sought to get in touch.
