Delay in construction of residential quarters costs exchequer Rs 6.64 crore: CAG

CHENNAI: Inordinate delay in construction of residential quarters and failure to follow stipulated rules in inviting bids by two Central police forces have left the exchequer poorer by around Rs 6.64 crore, says a CAG report.
In 2004, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) proposed construction of 371 residential quarters at Falakata, West Bengal, to ministry of home affairs.The ministry sanctioned 179 quarters in February 2005 which finally was revised to 296 after a year, said the audit report released on Friday.
SSB decided to build 52 quarters as there was a huge difference between the number of quarters sanctioned initially and authorised later, the CAG report states. It told the Central public works department (CPWD) that the remaining houses would be constructed after getting a revised sanction from the ministry.
But there was a delay of 33 months in obtaining revision and the CPWD asked for an enhancement in estimates because of the increase in prices. The audit report noted that the "delay resulted in a cost escalation of Rs 5.19 crore."
SSB said that the time taken in revision of cost by the MHA was procedural and involved correspondence and clarification from the CPWD to the nature of project and unique condition in which it was launched," the CAG report said.
In another example of loss to government, the Border Security Force (BSF) did not invite open tenders and failed to confirm the proprietary certificate from Ordnance Cable Factory (OCF), Chandigarh. In 2009, it purchased 7,290km of field telephone cable used for communication purposes for an amount of Rs 5.43 crore. Subsequently, in 2010, an additional requirement of cables was scrapped with OCF and open tenders were invited.
The CAG stated that cable procured by BSF in 2009 through direct sourcing was expensive when compared to the rate offered by a private firm, M/S Network Cables through competitive bidding in 2011. "It resulted in a loss of at least Rs 1.45 crore to BSF," said the report of the CAG.
The BSF said that the cables purchased in 2009 were of a better quality. However, the CAG tested both the cables in an independent laboratory and found them to be similar in quality.
The MHA said that proprietary certificate was not required from the OCF in 2009 as it was in a department under the ministry of defence. "There is no special dispensation for procurement from government department and in absence of bidding, Audit is unable to form opinion what price was competitive," the CAG said.