E-tender Scam: Attempts to Cover Up by the MP Government

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led MP government seems to be riding high on corruption. The latest e-tender scam, that has unfurled accidently in May this year, is proving to be a big blow to the government ahead of the elections this year.  The 3,000-crore scam seems to be only the tip of the iceberg, as more details on the lapses are still emerging. 

The cyber scam, which is currently being probed by the Electronic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state unfolded, as the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam (MPJNL) invited e-tenders for its rural water supply in March 2018. The manipulations and the breach of the electronic portal came to light in May, post complaints by various bidders in the tender allocation process. 

Speaking to Newsclick, Vivek Tankha, Rajya Sabha MP of the Congress said, “This is not even the full picture; what we see right now was revealed accidentally. The full scope of the corruption and the involvement of the people in the scam is yet to surface.” He added that the BJP government in the state is currently making all the efforts it can to hush the investigations.
 
Initial revelations into the scam came from the enquiry by Manish Rastogi, the official of MP State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) – the host of the portal – which showed that all the nine tenders were manipulated. These included the three tenders of MPJNL and others issued by Public Works Department, Water Resources Department, MP Road Development Corporation and the state Project Implementation Unit. After having documented the breach, he tabled the report to the state government, and was then suspiciously transferred from the position of MD to revenue collector. This change has been seen as an attempt by the state government to cover up the issue, as his report provided damning evidence. 

In the report, Rastogi points out that two companies – TCS and Ms Antares Systems Ltd – "did not pay due care and diligence" to protect the e-procurement system. After analysing explanations given by both companies against the show cause notices, Rastogi concluded that there was confusion regarding responsibilities between the two entities. His investigation also revealed that the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam (MPJNL) was internally alerted on the encrypted e-document contents getting modified by backend players, pointing out how the bidding processes of three contracts for multi-village rural water supply schemes in Rajgarh and Satna districts were altered to make two Hyderabad-based and one Mumbai-based companies the lowest bidders. It was done with insiders’ help, as the enquiry revealed that a select few bidders got unauthorised sneak preview of the bid price, so that they could pitch lower bids to clinch the deals. The tampering with the tendering process and the space for manipulations given by the vendors led to the rigging of the six other contracts. 

The cover-up attempts by the state government became more evident in its lethargic investigations. Currently, only a preliminary enquiry (PE) is being conducted even after conclusive evidence from Rastogi. The state government is ensuring that the investigation is carried out by its own department – the Electronic Offences Wing (EOW), and not the CBI. The intent of the cover-up is exposed, as even an FIR has not been filed in the alleged 3,000-crore scam. 

Dr. Sunilam of the Samajwadi Party pointed out, “What we are seeing is similar to what we saw with the Vyapam scam; once it was out, there was no going back and even now, the state is doing everything it can to prevent it from going out of its hands. They want to influence the pattern of investigation, this needs to be seen as a dedicated attempt by them.” 

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s Office had also declined to share information on the status of enquiry over the scam. The letter was written by the leader of opposition Ajay Singh in July. The PMO cited that a provision of the RTI Act bars revelation of third party information, and therefore the status could not be shared. In his letter, Singh had stated that some senior officials of the state government including those at the level of principal secretary, secretary, chief engineer and tender-opening authority are involved in the scam.

With the opposition demands that the government hand over the investigation to the CBI, some crucial questions will have to be answered by the MP government. Why was Rastogi transferred? Why has the government not initiated any inquiry or action against the departments whose e-tenders were rigged? Why are only nine cases being investigated, and not the whole e-tendering process? Why have the beneficiary companies not been named, and no action initiated against them, despite the admitted fraud?

Corruption is a key issue in the upcoming state elections, with many glaring similarities between the e-tender scam and the Vyapam scam. The opposition has said that the BJP will have to face big losses, and the new government will blow the lid over the scam with independent investigations. 

*Note-- This is a developing story, and will be updated as and when more details emerge.