‘Red flag’ eases Union Home Ministry official out

Days after a Home Ministry official red-flagged the involvement of private consultants in operating a new emergency response control room for disaster management, he was transferred to the Culture Ministry.

Bipin Mallick, Additional Secretary (Disaster Management), was shunted out on March 1 after he wrote to Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba against bringing in private consultants as it would entail security risks.

The PMO is also investigating an anonymous letter alleging that several senior government officials awarded contracts to private consultancy firms.

Mr. Mallick said in his letter on January 17: “The emergency control room is to be built on the strongest communication platform, which will have a combination of both terrestrial and satellite networks.

“ISRO is the nodal authority of SATCOM technology. It operates more than 100 satellites...hence has direct access to the global and regional satellite networks.…involving private consultants and implementing agencies by bidding would not be in the interest of country from security reasons. Besides there would be ownership and Intellectual Property Right issues and the Empowered Committee should be denotified.”

On Wednesday a senior Home Ministry official said, “The project is on track and we are awaiting communication from the ISRO.”

In November 2017, more than a year after ISRO had submitted a detailed project report for the control room, an Empowered Committee (EC) was set up by the Home Ministry to frame “request for proposal (RFP) for engagement of expert agency.”

On January 12, the EC held a meeting to “consider and numerically evaluate the competence of the qualifying firms and consider their financial bids.”

It was found that a “single bidder” situation had emerged. Of the five consulting firms empanelled by National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI), only three participated. “Of the three (Ernst and Young, Wipro, Pricewater House Coopers) that participated, only two — Ernst and Young and Wipro — had made a technical presentation.”

The EC was against a single bidder situation. “It hence decided to annul the ongoing process and commence the procedure de novo,” said a letter dated February 28 by Brig. Kuldip Singh, Consultant, National Disaster Management Authority. The Hindu has a copy of the letter.