Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, presented the special audit report written by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Saturday. The report criticized the BMC for withholding records pertaining to Covid spending. The audit also highlighted the city authorities’ reckless use of cash during the epidemic, inadequate planning, and lack of transparency.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) carried out this special audit of 76 specified works and expenditures on Covid-19 management, undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Council, at the request of the state government (BMC). Between November 28, 2019, and October 31, 2022, nine departments of the municipal body spent a combined Rs 12,023.88 crore.
The research makes clear that the BMC granted contracts for a number of works without using the proper tendering process. In several cases, it didn’t even choose the right contractor to carry out the task.
The audit found that the BMC violated the terms of the manual of procurement for the BMC and created vigilance standards when it granted 20 works across two departments valued at Rs 214.48 crore without calling for bids. Moreover, contracts between contractors and the BMC were not carried out in 64 works totaling Rs 4,755.94 crore across five departments.
Without written contracts, the local body won’t have any legal recourse against contractors in the case of a breach on their behalf. Third-party auditors were not hired in 13 projects totaling Rs 3,355.57 crore across three departments to evaluate the quality or amount of work performed by contractors.
The report said that these inconsistencies were brought to the attention of the urban development department so that corrective action could be taken to end wrongdoing and improve overall performance of the BMC, guaranteeing integrity in the use of public monies.
According to the CAG report, the BMC refused to permit an investigation into the use of money totaling Rs 3,538.73 crore, citing the pandemic act. Due to the lack of these documents, it is now impossible to validate the legitimacy, efficiency, economy, and efficacy of the BMC’s spending for Covid-19 administration.
“The inquiry was confined to just Rs 12,000 crore or else more anomalies would have been identified, if the full operation of the municipal body was taken into consideration,” Fadnavis said while presenting the special CAG report.
After the deputy chief minister’s remarks, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that “CM” stood for “corrupt man” and that the state government should order a CAG investigation into the Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune municipalities.
In the current assembly session, we have also exposed BMC corruption, such as the sanitary napkin scandal, Thackeray said.