July 22nd 2023.
A corruption scandal in the Housing For All (HFA) scheme of Bhopal has been raised by Leader of Opposition in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), Shabista Zaki, and a BJP corporator. They have alleged a scam involving crores of rupees due to the breaking of large amount tenders into smaller amounts and passing them through the Mayor-in-Council (MiC) without placing them before the municipal council for discussion and clearance.
According to the rules, there is a limit to the approval of tenders. The municipal commissioner has a limit of Rs. 2 crore, MiC has a limit of Rs. 10 crore, and the municipal council has the power to pass tenders above Rs. 10 crore. However, it has been alleged that MiC has passed big amount tenders by breaking them into smaller amounts.
Shabista Zaki expressed her doubts, stating that two tenders of Rs. 9.85 crore were passed by MiC for the shopping-cum-commercial complex, Dussehra Maidan and Neelbad under the HFA scheme without referring them to the BMC council. Similarly, a tender was passed for the Bhanpur project under HFA by MiC. She further stated that tenders were passed by MiC instead of referring them to the council for Hinotiya Alam and Malikhedi under HFA.
MiC member Ravindra Yati countered the allegations by saying that there was no need to refer the tenders to the council as it was a central government project and MiC had the power to clear them. However, BJP corporator Devendra Bhargava argued against such a claim and said that the tenders should have been placed before the municipal council to ensure transparency. He claimed that such malpractice would breed corruption in any project, including the HFA scheme, and that it is a huge scam.
Shabista Zaki has announced that a complaint will be made to the Lokayukta police in this regard. It remains to be seen what actions the authorities will take to address this corruption scandal.
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