New Delhi: Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra has recommended the termination of contracts and filing of an FIR against security contractor Kore Securities, who have indulged in massive violation of existing labour laws and conducted financial fraud at a grand scale.
On examination of the account books and verification at ground level, the following facts were unearthed, which led to the action mentioned above by the minister:1.
The security contractor, Kore Securities, was collecting over Rs. 22,000 per security guard per month while paying only Rs. 8,000 to each guard, as opposed to the contractually agreed upon Rs. 13,000 per month.
This fraud brings the amount paid to security guards lower than the minimum wage in Delhi.2. No weekly off-days were provided to security guards (601 in total) whilst the company continued to bill the Delhi Government, effectively robbing the security guards of their well-deserved salary.3.
Security guards were working 12-hour shifts as per the re-negotiated contracts but were being paid for only eight hours of service.4.
The total loss to the exchequer is worked out to be over Rs. five crore.
The components of this fraud include underpaid PF contributions to employees, underpayment of Rs. 5,000 per employee per month for guards working 12 hour shifts and overbilling of DTTDC for days that are taken off by employees only on paper but are working on ground.
"The Delhi Government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ji is firmly committed to eliminate corruption in Delhi. And this is just another shining example of our action against those working against the interests of the people. And for that, we have to ensure that no corruption takes place by contractors who work with the Delhi Government. However, we also believe in the welfare of the poor helpless security guards whose interests we will ensure are not ruined by corrupt contractors," said Mishra.
