[ 13 Nov, 2006 0300hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
LUCKNOW: The shadow of the mafia over PWD contracts in east UP has severely hampered the infrastructural growth of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
A majority of contracts for development projects, including World Bank-aided works, simply don't see the light of the day in this crime-prone region because the quoted cost far exceeds the estimated cost. Reason: Contractors have to include the 'mafia tax' in each of the bids.
The cost quoted by contractors in this region is almost 40 to 50 per cent higher than the estimated cost.
Interestingly, same contractors keep their bids approximately equal to or less than the estimated cost for the same nature of work in the central or western parts of the state.
The mafia menace is so rampant that most of the districts in the region including Basti, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Ballia, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Mau and Varanasi witness mafia-turned politicians dictating terms in government contracts.
"Politicians like Hari Shankar Tewari, who is also a minister, Mukhtar Ansari, Dhananjay Singh, Chulbul Singh, Akhilesh Singh (all gangsters cum legislators) rule the roost in their respective areas. Each contract would need their blessings," confided a senior PWD official.
Talking to TOI, principal secretary, PWD, Satish Kumar Agarwal admitted," Such elements were not allowing contractors to work without fear of coercion." He however refused to identify the mafia-turned politicians realising 'mafia tax' from the contractors.
He said that the projects which are in the eastern UP areas, the department is not getting the right of kind of people to place a bid.
"In some cases the bids are exorbitant and as high as 40 to 50 per cent above the estimated cost," said Agarwal. Citing an example, he said that for Deoria-Ballia World Bank-aided state road project, the bid was as high as 44 per cent of the estimated cost
A majority of contracts for development projects, including World Bank-aided works, simply don't see the light of the day in this crime-prone region because the quoted cost far exceeds the estimated cost. Reason: Contractors have to include the 'mafia tax' in each of the bids.
The cost quoted by contractors in this region is almost 40 to 50 per cent higher than the estimated cost.
Interestingly, same contractors keep their bids approximately equal to or less than the estimated cost for the same nature of work in the central or western parts of the state.
The mafia menace is so rampant that most of the districts in the region including Basti, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Ballia, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Mau and Varanasi witness mafia-turned politicians dictating terms in government contracts.
"Politicians like Hari Shankar Tewari, who is also a minister, Mukhtar Ansari, Dhananjay Singh, Chulbul Singh, Akhilesh Singh (all gangsters cum legislators) rule the roost in their respective areas. Each contract would need their blessings," confided a senior PWD official.
Talking to TOI, principal secretary, PWD, Satish Kumar Agarwal admitted," Such elements were not allowing contractors to work without fear of coercion." He however refused to identify the mafia-turned politicians realising 'mafia tax' from the contractors.
He said that the projects which are in the eastern UP areas, the department is not getting the right of kind of people to place a bid.
"In some cases the bids are exorbitant and as high as 40 to 50 per cent above the estimated cost," said Agarwal. Citing an example, he said that for Deoria-Ballia World Bank-aided state road project, the bid was as high as 44 per cent of the estimated cost
