BALANGIR: Alleged undue favour of a particular transport contractor by the district administration bypassing finalised tender bids has come under scrutiny with Kantabanji MLA Santosh Singh Saluja taking up the issue.
Raising the matter in the State Assembly, the MLA has urged the Government to probe the irregularity and initiate action against the officials and the contractor.
The contractor has been given an extension for the transport of PDS items three times in a row despite the fact that other contractors had won the tender contract and had already deposited a security amount of `3 lakh. This has been happening since March 31 after 2017-2019 contract period ended.
It is alleged that the Civil Supplies Office (CSO) by ignoring the claims of those who have bagged the tender has extended his contract by five months in three phases. One of the contractors who had bagged the tender said he has been waiting since April 1 for allotment of work order for the 2019-21 tender. But the office has extended the tenure of the existing contractor third time in a row. He said the Commissioner of Food Supplies department was apprised of the matter. Earlier, the old contractor was working as a driver in the office. CSO Abhiram Pradhan said new applications of the tender were sent to the Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation where it is pending clearance.