Bihar govt cancels Rs 826 crore-contracts given during coalition regime

The Bihar government, under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration, has cancelled 350 contracts totalling Rs 826 crore that were originally sanctioned during the previous Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led ‘mahagathbandhan’ government.These contracts were intended for the provision of drinking water in rural areas. The cancellation of these contracts follows an investigation conducted by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), which uncovered discrepancies in the contractor selection process.PHED Minister Niraj Kumar Singh said, “During the previous RJD-led grand alliance regime in the state, many contracts were awarded by the department. An inquiry by the department revealed that due process was not followed in awarding 350 contracts worth Rs 826 crore. These were related to the rural water supply, including the installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems.He further said the department has submitted the initial investigation findings to the state government’s competent authority for a comprehensive examination. “I recently called a meeting of senior officials of the department after getting the report, and later the cancellation order was issued,” he said.Lalit Yadav, a leader from the RJD, served as the PHED minister in the previous coalition government in the state.Singh said that the last administration awarded a total of 1,160 contracts amounting to Rs 4,600 crore for projects under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) within 17 months. “We have so far cancelled 350 contracts, the remaining are being examined,” he said.Bihar’s Banka district has the highest number of cancellations of contracts related to rural water supply systems, with 106 cancellations. Following Banka, Jamui reported 73 cancellations, Lakhisarai 20, Aurangabad 18, and Arrah 11, according to news agency PTI.Commenting on the decision to cancel the contracts of the PHED, RJD’s state unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are “scared” of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.“The previous ‘mahagathbandhan’ government in the state had executed several people-friendly projects and taken major decisions like employment to 700,000-800,000 youth and providing social security to the economically and socially weaker sections of the society,” Tiwary said.[With PTI inputs]