Nullify or face music : ATSUM
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 08 2014: The All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has threatened to resort to intense forms of agitation in the entire hills areas of Manipur until the e-tender of PMGSY Phase-IX is nullified and its earlier charter of demands fulfilled.

Addressing a press conference held at its Nagaram office, ATSUM Information and Publicity Secretary Micah Kamei said that e-tendering of Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Phase-IX at minus rate was in violation of the guidelines of Central Public Works Department (CPWD) .

While analysing the pros and cons of the standard bidding documents (SDB), it is questionable why the e-tender had deviated from the guidelines laid down by the CPWD, he added.

Micah Kamei questioned whether it is due to the fact that Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency (MSRRDA) engineers are incompetent to prepare the DPRs or is it because of the unholy nexus between engineers and contractors wherein bills could be encashed without executing any work.

He further questioned why the contractors have not raised any objection although they are to work under this scheme at loss.

According to the Work Manuals of CPWD, Micah Kamei said, bids in the range of plus/minus 5 per cent are acceptable, whereas bids which come with below or above plus/minus 5 to 10 per cent are to be justified with detailed price analysis of all and every items by the bidder.

As per norms, any bid below or above plus/minus 10 per cent are to be rejected except for exceptional cases in certain work sites where situation demands but these cases are for those above 10 per cent of the estimated rate, Micah Kamei said.

He added that the CPWD manual defines any other rates above or below 15 per cent as 'freak rate' and unacceptable.

Surprisingly, MSRRDA has deviated from CPWD norms while inviting tender from intending contractors for execution of works under PMGSY Phase-IX, he added.

Micah Kamei further said that it is obvious that any developmental work executed in hill areas cannot maintain quality due to various reasons including high transportation charge.

As such, the standard bidding documents (SDB) which permits the contractors to apply at minus rate is nothing but a ploy to siphon off a huge sum of money duping the hill people, he alleged.

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