When DDs went missing, or torn, and E governance failed to log on in CCP

A Rs 19.79 crore E governance project of the CCP, meant to give the citizen’s of Panjim information and records at the click of mouse has fallen into the trap of inertia and controversy.

The urban development department had decided to revoke its sanction to the CCP’s e-governance project after certain discrepancies in the tender came to light.

The project was kick-started in January 2014, for which funding has been received from Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The project was to be completed in eight months time. It is eight years now

Of the three companies which bid for the project Accenture, Dyna Cons and Tata Consultancy Services, TCS was awarded the contract. But according to official sources in the CCP, completely aware of the fiasco in thr E governance project, it was marked with careless handling of project auditing and accountability, something that the auditors of CCP have expressly raised in their letter to then CCP commissioner, Sanjit Rodrigues. The audit inspection report on the audit of accounts of the Corporation of the City of Panaji for the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015, prepared by the Goa office of the Accountant General, India audit and accounts department has actually raised strictures on the CCP over the irregularities in the process of e-governance project.

It has said that an amount of Rs 50 lakh was received as demand draft by the corporation towards earnest money deposit from M/s Tata Consultancy Services in January 2014 for participation in the e-tender for selection of system integrator for e-governance project, but not deposited in the bank.

The officer handling the draft, Mohan V Sakenawar in a statement, dated 09.07.2014,  during the internal inquiry admitted that he had actually torn the draft by mistake, because he was overloaded with work. See box for the portion of the statement where he mentioned this  (Herald is in possession of documents to substantiate all of this)

The Vigilance department kept a sharp eye on this inquiry and in fact wrote to the CCP commissioner on 17.06. 2015, with a detailed set of questions, seeking major clarifications. The CCP commissioner replied to this letter three weeks later on 8.07.2015

A former Commissioner of CCP said, “The CCP had proposed the vigilance inquiry in the matter but nothing has been happened in the case since. The amount of Rs 50 lakh, which was supposed be forfeited has even gone in the accounts of TCS. So basically the E Governance project did not take place and CCP could not encash the earnest money deposit paid by the successful TCS”   

Mayor Surendra Furtado had his own reasons for the project not taking of “The consultant has shown something in the Detail Project Report (DPR) while something else has been given in the tender and that is the reason why the Corporation has decided to cancel the project,”  he said.

The project was conceptualised to provide the citizens various facilities online; to get their work done like obtaining a birth or death certificate without visiting the CCP office and get their work done with a click of the mouse.

By the time the project came out of the legal tangles, the funds under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) went back, he said, adding that the Corporation has not perused the project as Smart City has already included it in the list of projects for Panjim city.