CHENNAI:
Tamil Nadu minister
for
Revenue and Information Technology
,
R B Udhayakumar
on Thursday hit out at senior
DMK leader
I Periyasamy for "engaging in false propaganda" over the implementation of
BharatNet project, to connect villages with broadband fibre network, and demanding a CBI inquiry into it.
The minister's statement comes in the wake of reports of senior IAS officer Santhosh Babu, who was IT secretary, applying for voluntary retirement. He was later transferred to head Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation.
In a statement, Udhayakumar said for any tender, involving large projects, there are norms to set qualification and financial criteria for the bidders. Once the tender is floated, all the bidders are invited for a pre-bid meeting to seek suggestions and alter tender conditions accordingly.
"As per the norms, the tender conditions can be altered even 48 hours before the end of the deadline to submit tenders, by the authority concerned. This is stated clearly in the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act. When even the pre-bid meeting for the tender to implement BharatNet project in Tamil Nadu is yet to take place, how come the DMK leaders are alleging malpractice and demanding a CBI probe," Udhayakumar said. The BharatNet project is an important initiative to connect all the villages with broadband fibre network. The state government has to ensure that right quality fibre network cables are used, since once they are laid underground, they have to last for several years.
"While our government is only trying to ensure that the project is properly implemented, the DMK leaders, including its president M K Stalin, have started a false propaganda, alleging irregularities and linking it to the transfer of an IAS official," the minister said. "In fact, it was during an earlier DMK regime, when an IAS official Uma Shankar was placed under suspension for not heeding to the diktats of a television channel owned by the members of the DMK leader's family. Why didn't they call for a CBI probe then?" Udhayakumar asked.
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