CAG recommends investigation into bamboo & agar plantation scheme

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 28, 2019

SHILLONG: The agriculture department has incurred an extra expenditure of Rs 2.60 crore by awarding contracts to firms that has quoted higher rates for supply of bamboo and agar planting materials, despite their failure to submit requisite documents.

It has also extended undue favour to the firms by issuing supply orders to firms who had not submitted bids for the same.

Revealing this in its report, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had recommended investigation by the Vigilance department against the action of the agriculture department in selecting firms and to fix responsibility for causing loss to the state government.

The agriculture department had issued financial sanction for implementation of the scheme ‘Organic plantation of Bamboo and Agar for sustainable livelihood towards sustainable ecology’ in 2014-15 to 2016-17.

The notice inviting tenders (NIT) was issued by the Director of Horticulture (DoH) for supply of planting material of bamboo (PMB) and planting material of agar (PMA).

As per the NIT terms and conditions, the bids were to be supported by relevant documents including technical literature and trading license in case of a non tribal (firm).

A total of 19 firms submitted bids for supply of PMB and 20 firms for supply of PMA. The tenders committee of the horticulture department in July 2015 rejected the bids of 13 and 16 firms which had tendered for supply of PMB and PMA respectively, due to their failure to support their bids with all relevant documents listed in the NIT.

However, the CAG said scrutiny of DoH records revealed that not only the rejected firms, but none of the firms had submitted all the relevant documents listed in the NIT.

Out of rejected bids, two firms had quoted the lowest (L-1) rate for supply of PMB and one firm had quoted L-1 for PMA.

It said that between 2015 and 2017, the DoH procured 12.60 lakh units of five bamboo species from four firms at a cost of Rs 5.29 crore at L-2 and L-3 rates and 9.60 lakh units of agar planting materials from three firms at Rs 3.32 crore at L-2 rate.

“Since the firms with lowest price bid were disqualified, the department incurred an extra expenditure of Rs 2.60 crore in purchase of PMB (Rs 1.58 crore) and PMA (Rs 1.02 crore) from firms that had also not fulfilled all the eligibility criteria,” the CAG stated.

Further, even against these purchases, audit noticed issues of irregular procurement and extension of undue benefit to different firms.

Three species of PMb valuing Rs 4.51 crore were procured at L-2 rates from four firms although they had not submitted bids for these species. Similarly, two species of PMB valuing Rs 3.08 crore were procured at L-1 rate from four firms.

“Thus, the decision of the committee to reject bids of the firms that had offered the lowest rates on the ground that some of the documents listed in the NIT were not submitted, and selecting firms which had also failed to submit the requisite documents and have quoted higher rates, or not quoted at all,  had not only violate the principle of providing a level playing field, but has also resulted in the department incurring extra expenditure of Rs 2.60 crore,” the CAG said.

Further, the action of issuing supply order to firms despite non-submission of bids for particular species, amounts to extending undue favour to them.

The department’s rationale for entrusting the supply of planting material to these firms, when they were not actually dealing in supply to the relevant, was not available on record, it said.

Meanwhile, the CAG said the action of the department in selecting firms for supply of planting material at higher rates and procurement of certain material from firms which have not submitted bids, calls for investigation by vigilance department and fixing of responsibility for causing loss to the state government.