Goa's opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has alleged a multi-crore scam
and pre-bid rigging in clearing a Rs.140 crore ($31 million) super-speciality
hospital project jointly promoted by an Israeli defence major and the state
government.
The government has agreed to initiate an enquiry into the allegations levelled
by the opposition but refused to stall the construction of the super-specialty
hospital project.
Putting Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane on the mat, Leader of Opposition
Manohar Parrikar said that the Israeli firm, Elbit Imaging, had in a board
meeting resolved to start a subsidiary company Elbit India Hospitals Limited
(EIHL), a month before it was actually awarded the contract.
"This is a scam. The company knew in advance they were getting the contract. I
have a copy of the extract of the minutes of a board meeting in which the
directors consented to the incorporation of its company in India, even before
it was awarded the contract," Parrikar told the Goa legislative assembly
Thursday, adding that despite the involvement of consultants in the bidding
process, the awarding of the contract to the Israel-based smacked of
pre-rigging.
"Elbit Imaging consented to start the Indian subsidiary before the contract was
awarded to them. And what is shocking is that the name of the Indian subsidiary
mentioned in the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government
exactly matches the one approved at the BoD (Board of Directors) meeting a
month ago," Parrikar said.
"Other bidders withdrew from the tendering because the whole process was
rigged," Parrikar said, tabling the documents in the house.
Rane said he would enquire into the allegations made by the opposition but
refused to stall the project, in which the Goa government has 15 percent
equity, with 85 percent being held by EIHL
* * *
Was life in the *kudds* glamourised? Who said, "It appears that the Goanese
(sic) are a roving people, prepared to go to any part of the world for
well-paid employment"? How did Goans find their first toehold in the Gulf? Find
your answers in Selma
Carvalho's *Into the Goan Diaspora Wilderness*. Buy from
Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph +91-9822488564] Price (in
Goa only) Rs 295. http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
* * *
