CHENNAI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has launched a probe, following an expose by The New Indian Express that the Adi Dravidar Welfare department had bought steam boilers at double the market price for government hostels.In the report carried on October 17, Express highlighted how at least `10.6 crores could have been saved from the State government’s coffers had the steam boilers been purchased at market price.
“The inquiry has begun in Tiruchy and will be taken up in other districts in two days,” an official of the commission who is privy to the probe said. Starting from 2013, a total of around 500 steam boilers that help cook large amounts of food hygienically were bought for the hostels for Dalit and tribal students. While the documents showed the boilers were bought at the rate of `4.5 lakh to `5 lakh, the market price for boilers of the same specification was around `2.5 lakh.
Taking suo moto cognizance of the Express report, the commission will look into the effectiveness and quality of the steam boilers, said sources in the commission. A senior official in the Directorate of Adi Dravidar Welfare has justified the purchase, pointing that the price was fixed through a tender process.