KOCHI: The All-Kerala Caterers Association(AKCA) on Tuesday alleged corruption in awarding the tender of catering work for the upcoming National Games to a Haryana-based company.
At a press meet held here on Tuesday, AKCA members alleged that the norms pertaining to the tender process were altered to award the contract to Gazal Group. AKCA president Badhusha Kadalundi said a proposal submitted by AKCA, which has around 4,000 members in the state, was excluded citing technical faults.
The tender was given to Gazal group, which quoted the lowest amount of Rs 6.22 crore for supplying food at the 15-day-long event. The members are of the view that the top three bidders conspired with some Games officials for grabbing the tender. A North Indian catering firm, RR Holidays, quoted the second lowest amount of Rs 6.23 crore. The third lowest amount (Rs 37.16 crore) was quoted by Quality Cafe, a J&K-based company.
“Two categories of foods are distributed at the Games’ venues. The first category of food is to be supplied to sportspersons and VIPs, while the second category is meant for the officials working at the venues. The proposal by Gazal Group did not mention the price of breakfast in the first category. For meals, they quoted Rs 123 per plate. Interestingly, a plate of snacks with coffee was priced at Rs 248. The first category dinner was priced at Rs 228. How can anyone give lunch with 16 dishes for Rs 123 per plate, and charge Rs 248 for snacks,” Badhusha asked. Similarly, breakfast in the second category would cost only Rs 18 per plate, lunch Rs 54 and dinner Rs 107. The price of snacks and tea would be Rs 147.
“When we met Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob, head of the food committee for the Games, he told us that he could not look into the matter due to dearth of time. He said he did not go through the files related to Games. We also met the Chief Minister, who gave an assurance in the matter, but nothing happened. We had approached National Games CEO Jacob Punnoose for extending the date of the tender. He assured that the date would be extended to December 29. However, on December 27, the tender was granted to the lowest bidder. The tender dates were changed four times earlier. Similarly, norms were altered to help the Gazal group,” said AKCA general secretary Jijan Mathai.