After contractor's suicide, K'taka to set up commission to review all public works over Rs 50 crore
Shivamogga(PTI): The Karnataka government will form a three-member commission comprising a retired high court judge and two experts to clear tender proposals for all public projects worth Rs 50 crore in a bid to check malpractices in awarding contracts.
Also, the government has ordered a total ban on starting works based on oral instructions of ministers or higher officials.
These decisions are a fallout of civil contractor Santosh Patil's death by suicide on April 11 in an Udupi hotel accusing the then Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public work that was carried out on the minister's oral instruction at Hindalga village in Belagavi district last year.
Eshwarappa, an MLA from Shivamogga, who had maintained that he was not at all involved in the issue, resigned from his ministerial post on April 14 due to mounting pressure on him.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "Our government has taken a decision. Public works start from the time of preparing estimates. Tender conditions are prepared to benefit only a section of people. I have ordered formation of a high-level committee which will have a retired high court judge as its chairperson and a financial expert and a technical expert as its members."
The commission will be formed under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act (KTPPA).
All the tenders above Rs 50 crore will go to the commission, which will review estimates and the tender condition as per the provisions of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, Bommai said.
After the project is reviewed and cleared by the panel, the tender process will start, he added.
"A government order has been passed and in a few days, the commission will be set up. This will be a deterrent against corruption. The judge and members will be named in a week. Every estimate has to be cleared in 15 days," Bommai said.
He added that a provision has also been made that if there are more proposals, then a parallel commission will be constituted so that there should not be any delay in clearance of projects.
"It is true that on many occasions, oral orders are given in the Panchayat Raj bodies. After learning about this, I have directed the Urban Development department and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department that no work should take place on the basis of oral instructions," the Chief Minister said.
He warned that if someone carries out work based on such oral instructions then the assistant engineers, assistant executive engineers, panchayat development officer or the section officers will be held accountable. In rural areas, Bommai said panchayat development officers and executive officers will be held accountable.
"I have ordered that all the instructions should be in writing so as to have a system. This will be implemented soon," Bommai said.
To a query, Bommai also agreed with the idea of setting up committees on the lines of the commission at the district level also.
When asked about the Patil suicide case, the Chief Minister said the investigation is going on right from the RDPR department to the police department.
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Man held for killing teacher over Rs 13 lakh loan in Karnataka
Kalaburagi (Karnataka) (PTI): A 27-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a teacher after she repeatedly demanded repayment of a Rs 13 lakh loan that he had taken from her, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, Amar, allegedly attacked the woman with a sharp weapon and later set the body on fire on the Kamalapur-Kalmood road in the district in an attempt to destroy evidence, they said.
Police identified the victim as Jyoti (57), a resident of Kalaburagi city, who was working as a teacher in Bidar district.
The matter came to light after an unidentified female body was found beside the Kamalapur-Kalmood road, they said.
Initially, it was treated as an unidentified body. Based on a complaint from a local resident, a murder case was registered under 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Kamalapur Police Station limits in Kalaburagi district, police said.
The investigation was immediately taken up and her photographs were widely circulated and later, the woman was identified.
During the investigation, police identified Amar, a resident of Kapnoor area, who owns and runs a milk parlour as the accused, Adduru Srinivasulu, Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police told reporters here.
According to him, Amar had borrowed Rs 13 lakh from Jyoti. She had been repeatedly asking him to return the money and had warned that she would lodge a police complaint if he failed to repay the amount. Fearing this, Amar allegedly planned to kill her.
He reportedly took Jyoti towards the Kamalapur-Kalmood road in a vehicle on April 4. On the way, he stopped the vehicle saying that water needed to be poured into the engine. "When she got down, he allegedly threw chilli powder on her face and attacked her with a sharp weapon. After the murder, he allegedly poured fuel on the body and set it on fire before fleeing the scene," the officer said.
Based on the accused's statement, police recorded his confession, collected evidence in the case, arrested him and produced him before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody, he added.
