Chennai, Nov 13 Minister for Public Works and Sports Development, Adhav Arjuna, on Friday said that in a crackdown on systemic graft, the Tamil Nadu government overhauled the PWD and Highways departments, eliminating ‘benami’ tenders and introducing structural reforms that have resulted in project costs dropping by up to 30 per cent.
Addressing a press conference here, Arjuna stated that the era of “fixations” and politically motivated tender allocations that prevailed for the past 15 to 20 years has ended.
“Today, because we have opened up the system to transparent bidding, tenders are fetching bids that are 25 to 30 per cent below the estimated costs. This massive leakage is now plugged, and the saved money is returning directly to the government treasury,” he said.
The minister revealed that several complaints regarding past malpractices have been forwarded to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). He alleged that there was a massive road patch-work scam just before the last assembly elections.
“While Rs 500 crore was typically spent annually on patch-works, suddenly Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,500 crore was allocated right before the elections. Work was split into small Rs 10 lakh chunks to avoid strict tender norms. This was a massive scam, and the DVAC is looking into it,” he alleged.
The anti-corruption drive has also extended to internal administration. The Minister noted that employee transfers, which previously involved bribes ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for lower-level engineering posts, have now been executed with absolute transparency and zero financial demands.
Calling out the previous regime for floating tenders without acquiring land or obtaining clearances, leading to multi-year delays, Arjuna announced a strict new protocol for infrastructure projects.
“Henceforth, no tender will be floated without completing Land Acquisition (LA), Detailed Project Reports (DPR), and securing environmental, DTCP, and CMDA clearances. We cannot afford to have a 36-month project drag on for eight years while the contractor sits on government funds without the land being available,” he said.
To ensure public participation and expert vetting, DPRs will now be published on government websites for a five-day public review period before tenders are finalised.
The government is also modernising its approach to government buildings to maximise the use of expensive urban land. Moving away from traditional short-sighted structures, new government hospitals and collectorates will fully utilise their Floor Space Index (FSI), Arjuna added.
“If private IT parks can build 20 floors and accommodate thousands comfortably, why should government offices be restricted to G+3 or G+4? With the Chief Minister’s approval, new buildings will go up to G+14 floors, built with international architectural standards to serve the public for the next 75 years,” Arjuna said.
In a major relief for motorists, the department has completely scrapped ad-hoc road patch works. Under the new policy, road contractors must guarantee a five-year quality and maintenance period for the stretches they lay. Furthermore, to prevent road heights from dangerously increasing and causing rainwater to flood adjoining homes, contractors have been mandated to mill and remove the old road layers before laying new ones.
Strict accountability measures have also been introduced for ongoing works. “Projects will have strict six-month milestones. If a contractor fails to meet the target, the tender will be immediately cancelled, and the company will be blacklisted. There will be no political pressure from our side, but contractors must deliver quality on time,” the minister warned.
(PTI News)
