------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ GSIDC's transparency claim appears ambiguous ------------------------------------------------------------- The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), while denying allegations of lack of transparency in its functioning, has concurred that the Corporation did not come under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
The total loans raised by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) since its inception three years ago is Rs 246-crore of which Rs 163-crore is outstanding as on date, its managing director Rajib Sen, said on Friday.Mr Sen, who addressed a press conference here, said until December 2003, the GSIDC had taken loans of Rs 246.12 crore, which have been guaranteed by the Goa government.
Of this, Rs 82.23-crore has been repaid by the corporation, he said, adding that the total operative guarantees issued by the Goa government to the GSIDC is worth Rs 210.07-crore. The government has also given Rs 18 crore up to March 2004 to the Corporation, over and above the amounts given towards EMI for financing government projects, Mr Sen said.
Mr Sen addressed a press conference to clarify certain remarks published in the local dailies alleging lack of transparency in the functioning of the corporation that were made by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President, Luizinho Faleiro. While declining to name Mr Faleiro explicitly, he said: "I don't want to take any names. All I want to do is just give the factual position".
Mr Faleiro, it may be recalled, had reportedly alleged that the GSIDC allots projects without tenders, quotations, transparency or accountability. He had also said that this was because the Corporation did not come under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
Concurring that the Corporation did not come under the Act, Mr Sen said: "If someone wants information about any project, and if he follows the procedure, we will provide him with the information."
Mr Sen said that for all the 23 projects carried out by the Corporation in the last three years, the estimates have been prepared as per the General Standard Rates (GSR) of the Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) standards and the estimated cost along with the works are advertised in the dailies.
The works are awarded to the contractors after completion of the tendering process and the approval of the Board as per the procedure. The details of the works, along with the estimated costs, tendered costs, etc, are available for scrutiny, he said.
Responding to the allegations that no tenders are being issued, he said: "this is not correct. At every stage there is a tender process."Explaining the procedure, he said that the bidding process is by a two-envelope system comprising the technical and the financial bids. Only the financial bids of the bidders qualifying the technical requirements, are opened for detailed scrutiny. "The system is operated in a very transparent manner," he asserted.
Mr Sen said, that the total value of the projects would be in the region of Rs 100-crores. The managing Director said that the Public Works Department has adopted its own schedule of rates for projects which are required to be revised every year due to the increase in the rates of material, labour and fuel components. Since the revision of the schedule is a cumbersome process, an ad hoc increase in the existing rates is adopted by the GSIDC, depending on the increase in rates of the mentioned components, which is incorporated at random.
On the other hand, the GSIDC uses the same schedule of rates adopted by the PWD with some modifications for the cost indices to incorporate increase of rates of labour, material and fuel components, so that a realistic cost is arrived at.
This weighted increase in cost is taken based on the cost indices published by the RBI bulletin and the gazette published by the Labour Commissioner of India, he said. ----------------------------------------------------- HERALD 13/3/04 www.oherald.com -----------------------------------------------------
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