The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday walked out of the Chhattisgarh assembly protesting against the cancellation and allocating tenders at higher rates and alleged corruption in the Jal Jeevan Mission.
BJP's Dr Krishnamurthy Bandhi sought details of the tender issued and cancelled under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Bilaspur district from July 15 to December 7, 2022, the number of complaints received and action taken.
Public Health Engineering Minister Guru Rudra Kumar said the district Collector was chairman in coordination with all departments floating the tender and sanctioning work. The limit is Rs 5 crore.
A total of 201 tenders were floated out of which 80 were cancelled and in 15 the time limits were extended. No tender was issued offline. Three complaints were received. These were resolved, he said.
He added the complaints were regarding construction of water tanks and quality of pipes. Departmental probes were done.
He said the new Standard Operating Rates (SOR) were changed in July. The rates were revised as per SOR in new tenders.
Bandhi said the time extended was for six hours. It was followed by other BJP members raising several supplementary questions stating that Chhattisgarh lagged behind in achieving the target till September 2024 for Jal Jeevan Mission. The Central government funds are being misappropriated, they said.
The opposition sought a probe through a committee of sitting members, leading to an uproar. Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel then announced that the BJP was walking out.