Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, Madhya Pradesh leader of Opposition Ajay Singh has written a letter to him, demanding an impartial probe into the alleged e-tender tampering scam in the State.
The letter said, "You initiated Digital India movement which received a massive jolt with the exposure of the e-tender tampering scam.”
Two of these e-tenders are linked with an irrigation project in Rajgarh district which Modi is scheduled to inaugurate on Saturday, Singh said, adding that people have lost faith in the information technology after the scam was unearthed. Accusing the BJP government in the state of a cover-up, he added, "Investigations have been handed over to the MP Economic Offences Wing, which does not have cyber experts. Government has paralysed the functioning of the EOW."
The preliminary inquiry into the alleged scam is already underway by the EOW.
The three tenders, worth Rs 1,000 crore, were floated by the Public Health Engineering department. Two of them pertain to two projects in Rajgarh district, worth Rs 656 crore and Rs 282 crore, respectively.
All three tenders were cancelled after the initial investigation suggested tampering in the e-tendering process, sources said. The EOW has conducted physical verification of the State Electronic Development Corporation's networking system and recorded statements of its operators, sources said. The EOW team also visited the office of MP Jal Nigam Maryadit (MPJNM) to understand the tendering process, they added.
MPJNM Managing Director Pramod Agrawal, a senior IAS officer, who reportedly flagged the alleged tampering, could not be contacted.
However, source said that Agrawal had carried out the investigation following a direction from the Prime Minister's Office, which had received a complaint about the scam.