By IANS,
Raipur : The Chhattisgarh government has suspended an official and blacklisted a construction company that was awarded an over Rs.100 million contract under a centrally sponsored road construction scheme in the state.
Executive engineer L.C. Tamrakar was suspended and Chhattisgarh-based Balaji Constructions blacklisted after it was found that the company had just done cosmetic repairs to a 15-km road, which otherwise was supposed to be built anew, official sources said.
The sources said the construction company had been paid Rs.10.3 million for building the stretch of road in Patharia block of Bilaspur district.
According to the sources, Balaji Constructions was awarded Rs.100.6-million construction contract in the block in May 2007 under the central sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The company was to construct 45-km stretch of roads in seven blocks of the district.
“Reconstruction work of the 15-km road (will) be carried out by another firm now and we will recover Rs. 1.30 crore (10.3 million) that the company (Balaji Constructions) has received,” R.P. Mandal, secretary panchayat and rural development department, told IANS Saturday.
“We have taken the expose very seriously and will not let off any official if found involved,” Mandal added.
The government of India launched the PMGSY in 2000 to provide road connectivity to rural habitations as part of its poverty reduction strategy.