Parliamentary panel grills govt officials on CWG irregularities

After CVC and CBI, the conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth Games is now under the scrutiny of a Parliamentary committee.

New Delhi: After CVC and CBI, the conduct of
the 2010 Commonwealth Games is now under the scrutiny of a
Parliamentary committee which on Tuesday grilled top officials of
the Urban Development ministry and civic agencies, seeking
details about various construction projects.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development,
headed by NDA Convenor Sharad Yadav, wanted to know the basis
of selection of vendors, contractors and sourcing of
construction material and whether pricing was done at
competitive rates.

Additional Secretary in the Urban Development Ministry RC
Mishra, other senior officials from the ministry and from the
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Central Public Works
Department (CPWD) appeared before the Committee.

The DDA and CPWD were working under the Urban Development
Ministry for carrying out various infrastructure projects like
building or renovating stadia, constructing houses for
athletes and beautifying the capital.

The Committee members asked them to submit details about
various aspects of the projects undertaken by them including
the reasons for selecting a particular vendor and a particular
product.

The members also wanted the officials to make separate
submissions regarding the availability of certain materials
which were procured from foreign countries and whether the
same could have been procured domestically.

They also sought details about the cost incurred in
procurement of materials and the choice of certain foreign
contractors for projects like the Commonwealth Games Village,
which was developed by Emmar-MGF, a Dubai-based construction
company.

The members also wanted to know why DDA bought a sizable
number of flats in the Games Village once it had asked the
foreign company to build it.

The Parliamentary panel wanted to know whether some
additional flats were constructed at the village beyond the
sanctioned 1100 and if so, the details of their sale.

Sources said a Congress member wanted the DDA and CPWD to
be disbanded and construction, maintenance and renovation work
of government buildings outsourced to the private sector.

Interestingly, only a couple of Congress members attended
the meeting on Tuesday.

Another member wanted to know why, despite following the
highest construction standards, the basement of a few
buildings in Games Village were flooded when the capital
received excess rains a month before the event.

The agencies have been asked to submit their detailed
replies in the next 20 days.

PTI

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