Right to information (RTI) activist Bhaskar Prabhu had been at it for over one year, posing query after query seeking to know details about the usage of public money at F-South ward.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has fined a contractor Rs1.5 lakh for cheating on a contract worth Rs1.6 lakh. It is a victory for the power of information in its battle against corruption.
Right to information (RTI) activist Bhaskar Prabhu had been at it for over one year, posing query after query seeking to know details about the usage of public money at F-South ward.
In the end, his labour paid off. Corrupt dealings involving some BMC officials and the contractor were laid bare, and the guilty contractor was made to pay through his nose.
The BMC had issued work orders to the tune of Rs7.26 lakh in late 2008 and January 2009 at F-South ward. The contractor had bagged an assignment of Rs1.6 lakh for putting grill fencings around the bases of 164 trees.
The rest of the amount was spent on laying green velvet beds at the bases of the trees.
After payment was made to the contractor, a BMC inspection revealed that most of the money given for installing the grill fencings had been pocketed by the contractor.
The case has brought into focus the bogus multi-layered supervisory system followed by the BMC. Prabu said, “What were the assistant superintendent of the garden department and senior ward officers doing? What multi-layered inspection system do they talk of when they make payments for work that has not been done?”
Chandrashekhar Rokade, deputy municipal commissioner, garden department, told DNA, “I will look into the matter, and take action against errant officials, if there is any.”
Fining the contractor, however, was not a spontaneous action by the BMC. Prabhu’s repeated RTI follow-ups extracted a reply which stated, “…referring to your (complaint) letter, inspection was done by the officers, and fine has been levied (on the contractor).”
Prabhu said, “Had I not taken up the issue, they (BMC) would have never fined the contractor. But penalising the contractor alone is not enough. Action has to be taken against senior officers as well.”
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