The Congress on Tuesday demanded immediate suspension of Malkangiri district Collector Dr YC Vijay and initiate an impartial enquiry into the illegal tender process of the minor mineral sources (Sairats) in the district, failing which the party would to lock up the Collector’s office.
At a Press conference here, former Nabarangpur MP and OPCC working president Pradeep Majhi alleged that one Ch Venugopal, proprietor of VG Granites situated at village Peta under Motu tehsil is exporting precious granite rocks to China illegally in connivance with Government servants of this district. Recently, he grabbed seven stone quarries with the help of Collector Dr Vijay in the tender process. As per the prescribed norms, the tehsildar concerned is the competent authority to invite tenders for stone quarries. But this tender in March 2021 was notified from the office of the Collector, Majhi said. This information received through RTI highlights an important fact that tehsildar was not aware of the tender process except putting his signature on the tender notice.
The information revealed that Tehsildar Dr Gunanidhi Nayak was on leave on March 30, 2021, the day the tender boxes were opened. But how Collector wrote in the tender preceding that Dr Nayak was present on that day and he took his signature on proceedings, Majhi questioned. Majhi alleged that the Collector has received an illegal gratification of Rs 1 crore from Venugopal. In his response, the Collector said the allegations are baseless and he has followed the prescribed tender process.
He said that as there was no security point in the Collectorate, he had taken the tender box to his official residence. Later, the box was kept in treasury as he had to go on leave. On use of a high-priced luxury car, he said that as his vehicle was unusable, he was using a hired vehicle.