House panel exposes irregularities amounting to Rs 70 lakh in Smart City works

Pic: The House panel members with the report; TOI report on Chitaguppi Hospital, dated Sept 25, 2024Dharwad: The House panel constituted by former mayor Ramanna Badiger to probe alleged irregularities in the Smart City project works at Chitaguppi Hospital in Hubballi has submitted its final report to Mayor Jyoti Patil here on Friday.The report has flagged financial irregularities amounting to Rs 70 lakh, along with the installation of substandard medicine vending machines at the hospital. It can be recalled that the Times of India first highlighted the issue on Sept 25, 2024The committee was formed after continuous complaints from the public and corporators over disrupted medical services at the HDMC-run hospital. The probe panel comprised senior corporators Veeranna Savadi (chairman), Iresh Anchatgeri, Shivu Hiremath, Raju Kamati, and Mayur More.After nearly seven months of scrutiny, the committee has recommended recovery of the misappropriated amount from the contractor and disciplinary action against officials responsible for substandard implementation.Speaking after the submission of the report, Savadi and Anchatgeri said that Rs 3.2 crore was sanctioned in 2019 for digitalising healthcare services at Chitguppi Hospital under the Smart City Mission. However, the information furnished to the panel by Engineer Vijaykumar, health officer RC Dandeppanavar, and Smart City officer Basavaraj was ‘grossly inadequate'.The committee observed a lack of coordination between HDMC officials and Smart City authorities, resulting in poor quality works despite the significant allocation.Despite repeated instructions, officials failed to produce critical documents including tender details, competitive bidding records, government guidelines, technical expert engagement, utilisation of technology, training modules, and work methodologies adopted by various agencies.The report also noted misuse of human resources, stating that municipal staff were deployed as contract labourers for five years, violating norms.Anchatgeri further pointed out that these works were executed during the period when the municipal corporation was under an administrator as no elected council was in place. "Officials undertook works as per their whims and fancies. Over Rs 1,000 crore has been sanctioned under Smart City projects for Hubballi. We have urged the state government to order a Lokayukta probe into all such works," he added.Mayor Patil said the report will be forwarded to the govt for necessary action.