Congress claims corruption in AAP govt’s CCTV project

The Congress on Monday said there was corruption involved in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s ongoing project to install CCTV cameras in Delhi, citing government documents showing the approved cost going up from ₹130 crore in 2015 to ₹571.40 crore in 2017.

At a press conference, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said that the government had approved ₹130 crore on October 13, 201,5 and the tender was floated in November 2017.

Though two bids were received, only one was successful, he said.

After that, the tender was cancelled and the government on February 6, 2018, approved a new tender with modified conditions with a cost of ₹571.40 crore, of which ₹250 crore was for maintenance, according to the minutes of the meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC).

Citing the minutes of the April 5 meeting of the EFC, which is headed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Mr. Maken said it was shocking that the panel decided to put the project before the Cabinet without the approval of the competent authority.

According to the minutes, the Public Works Department’s principal secretary Renu Sharma told the EFC that the PWD did not have the required liaison with citizens groups, which the government said would help in identifying locations for CCTVs.

The PWD officer added that the department could be the executing agency, while a working group under the Revenue Department should be formed for coordinating with all stakeholders.

Bone of contention

Recently, the project had become a bone of contention between the AAP government and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal.

Raj Niwas had on April 19 held a meeting to review the progress of the CCTV project and announced an inter-agency group to formulate a standard operating procedure for installation. The AAP government had protested this saying that RWAs and MLAs should be responsible for deciding the locations for the cameras.

Referring to the controversy, Mr. Maken said that the AAP government was trying to use the L-G as a “scapegoat”.

Reacting to Mr. Maken’s statement, AAP government officials said the contract for the project had been won by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a public sector undertaking (PSU), and that there was no truth to the allegations.

CM refutes allegations

“Delhi women safety residential areas CCTVs installation project tender was won by central govt navratna PSU BEL - anyone with below average IQ will also understand that those opposing it could not do anything for 15 years themselves & are now crying wolf [sic],” tweeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s media advisor Nagendar Sharma.

“Whenever AAP Govt is working towards public welfare scheme, BJP will create hurdles through IAS officers and LG. After LG has exhausted all delay tactics, Mr Ajay Maken will jump with some frivolous complaints. It's their modus operandi. Delhi Congress is team B of BJP. [sic],” said AAP Delhi spokesperson and Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj.