Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are yet again at loggerheads over the allegation of corruption against the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). On Friday, Vinod Mishra -senior BJP corporator and group leader of the party at BMC- wrote to the Controller and Auditor General of India, Maharashtra, Municipal Commissioner and Additional Municipal Commissioner alleging the misuse of funds in beat number 209 of E ward, which covers Byculla.
In the letter, Mishra alleged that BMC standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav, who is also the corporator of this ward, of floating tenders worth crores in the ward level. In a municipal ward, the ward officer has authority of floating tenders not more than Rs 5 lakh, while the zonal Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) has the authority of floating tenders till Rs 25 lakh.
However, in the letter, Mishra stated seven different tenders worth Rs 12 crore were floated from the ward level. “Any tender amount more than Rs 25 lakh needs the approval of the municipal commissioner and a tender more than Rs 50 lakh needs to be cleared by the standing committee,” Mishra told the Free Press Journal.
“None of these tenders have been approved centrally or have been tabled for clearance at the standing committee,” added Mishra.
Of the 12 tenders, one such tender was for purchasing 30 food and vegetable trucks worth Rs 5 crore. The BMC is yet to officially give its clearance for the policy.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Jadhav denied all the allegations, stating the funds in his constituency are being used for the welfare of people.
“I have floated tenders for acquiring sewing machines, xerox machines, laptops and computers for the underprivileged community in my constituency. These products have helped in generating employment opportunities for these people,” stated Jadhav on Friday. “The fund has been allotted to the corporators by the standing committee and complete transparency is being maintained in the process,” Jadhav added.
