GUWAHATI: Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Sarbanada Sonowal government might claim that the government is combating corruption since its formation in 2016, there are reports of corruption in various Departments. The BJP Government has been infamous for its initiatives of various festivals and events which are used as marketing blitzkrieg for its Ministers and Party Leaders, particularly since Namami Brahmaputra. These festivals which are high in budget often revolves around scams and anomalies particularly in giving away contracts related to them. The Brahmaputra Literary Festival (BLF) 2019 is yet another festival which is surrounded by allegations of anomalies since last 2 years after the Secretary, Publication Board has taken charge.
A senior official of a leading outdoor advertising agency talking to G Plus said, “The BLF Committee awarded outdoor publicity tender without following the norms last year and even this year.The outdoor publicity work is awarded to an advertising agency called Gyanam (who is not actively in the business of outdoor advertising and may not own even a single hoarding) and has quoted higher than the L-1 (lowest bidder).”
L-1 bidder is the organization/ firmthat quotes the lowest amount for the entire work. The outdoor publicity budget was Rs 27 lakh for the festival this year and Outreach Advertising which is L-1amidst a set of 5 technically competent bidder quoted only Rs 18 lakh but the work has been awarded to Gyanam which quoted Rs 19.23 lakhs.
A senior official of Outreach Advertising said, “We are one of the leading advertising agency of the State with impeccable reputation and credentials, having qualified all the criteria laid down by the BLF committee for the publicity tender and also making the most competitive price bid offer emerging as L-1 bidder according to the process but still we did not get the work.”
Last year the lowest bidder (L-1) was Aahana Ads and Outdoors which quoted Rs 29 lakhs, and the second lowest bidder (L-2) was Media Unlimited which quoted Rs 30.40 lakhs, but the tender was awarded to Media Unlimited.
Many contractors are upset with the BJP government as according to the trend it is observed that only people close to the BJP or Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) gets awarded with high profile work orders.
This year five companies - Gyanam, Prodigy, Media Unlimited, Vinayak Advertising and Outreach- contested in the publicity tendering process and everyone expected that Outreach will get the work order because of the lowest bid quoted by the organization, but shockingly the work order was awarded to Gyanam without informing, negotiating or makinga consideration with Outreach Advertising.
An official of Outreach said that it was shocking to know that the work order was awarded to a L-2 company without even informing them for their reason of rejection.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Assam Publication Board (organizers), Pramod Kalita talking to G Plus said, “We have issued the work order after thorough scrutiny and anybody unhappy with our decision can opt for legal options. We are prepared.” He claimed that the L-1 company failed to present before the selection committee enough hoardings in districts like Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Biswanath and Dhemaji, hence the work was awarded to the L-2 company.
Reacting to the secretary’s claims, officials of Outreach Advertising revealed that the tender document does not mention of any specific location to be furnished for the publicity scope and that the hence reason given by the Secretary is completely baseless. If such was a scenario, the Board should have asked for particular locations so that all the bidders could bid on common parameters and not on proposals which are subjective in nature. Furthermore, if any L-1 bidder is unable to satisfy the requirement of the employer, they should have been informed about the requirements for consideration and be given an opportunity to meet them; which also did not happen. Also, any company could only reach the financial bidding process only after it is selected in the technical process. After the financial bid is opened only the financial evaluation matters and L-1 bidder becomes the most deserving. If such was the scenario, the question they ask is – Why did they select the L-1 Agency as technically competent?
The organizers reflect arrogance and they continue to violate the public procurement guidelines year after year through suspicious processes making a mockery of the much touted Durnitimukt Assam by the Sonowal led BJP Government. Besides the scam-ridden Brahmaputra Literary Festival, the overall tendering process in Assam is not free from anomalies and scams.
Also read: Brahmaputra Lit Fest to begin amidst alleged ‘anomalies’
