In a move that raised eyebrows, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday offered to distribute money among students or parents for buying 27 school items which the corporation provides to around 4.25 lakh children studying in its institutes.
The suggestion, which could have led to misuse of funds on part of students or their parents, was shot down by group leaders at their meeting at the civic headquarters.
The corporation’s idea comes in the backdrop of serious allegations of corrupt practices leveled by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) into framing a proposal pertaining to buying the items at a cost of around Rs200 crore. The MNS alleged that the rates quoted in the proposal were exorbitantly high compared to the retail prices.
The proposal was approved by BMC’s standing committee but is being challenged by the MNS, who have filed a Public Interest Litigation on the issue.
Mayor Sunil Prabhu said that this had been suggested so that they can buy the items themselves. “All party members, barring those from MNS, refused to buy the argument and the proposal was shot down,” he said.
On MNS’ allegations of higher rates being quoted in the proposal, he said: “As far as the allegations of cartel formed to bag a contract are concerned, the administration has sought more time to look into it.”
The MNS sought to clear its stance over the issue. They said that if the tender approved by the standing committee gets cancelled, framing and sanctioning a new proposal will take time, causing delay in providing items like uniforms, shoes and books.
“Hence, to save the time, we supported the idea of dispensing money into the accounts of students. At present, the civic body has opened accounts of 2 lakh students and will need to create 2.25 lakh more accounts. More than us, the parents are worried about buying items for their children. Hence, we do not see a possibility of misuse of funds,” said Dilip Lande, MNS’ group leader.
