"Investigation underway, action being taken against accused": Bihar Deputy CM on PHED tender irregularities

Patna (Bihar) [India], June 26 (ANI): Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said that an investigation is underway into the cancellation of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) tenders over irregularities, adding that action is being taken against the accused in the matter.
Speaking to ANI, Choudhary said, "That is the investigation process, all those people have been investigated on the orders of the minister. Action is being taken against those who are involved."
"Investigations are going on in all the departments. Action will be taken immediately," he said.
Bihar's PHED has cancelled tenders worth over Rs 800 crore that were issued during the Mahagathbandhan tenure.
Numerous deficiencies were identified in the tenders from that period.
Minister of Public Health Engineering of Bihar, Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu, announced that all tenders will be re-issued as soon as possible, with all work expected to be completed within six months.
The decision to cancel the contracts followed an inquiry by the PHED, which revealed "irregularities in the process of selecting contractors," Minister Bablu stated.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mrityunjay Tiwari criticized the Bihar National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for cancelling the contracts.
"Politics should not be conducted with such a mentality. Today, they are in power; tomorrow, we might be. In 17 months, Tejashwi Yadav has done a lot of work. There should not be any politics when it comes to the development of Bihar. Because of jealousy, they are becoming an obstacle to Bihar's development. It is also possible that by the time the tenders are cancelled, Tejashwi Yadav might come to power again," Tiwari said.
Defending the state government's decision, Bihar Minister Nitin Nabin said, "The respective minister and the departmental secretary must have inspected everything. They must have found that the tenders were distributed wrongly and hence decided to cancel them."
Notably, the PHED is responsible for ensuring the installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems in small habitats and wards.
It is worth recalling that Nitish Kumar severed ties with the RJD and returned to the NDA in January this year.
Following the formation of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state, an order was issued to review all decisions made by departments previously headed by former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and RJD ministers Lalit Yadav and Ramanand Yadav.
In a letter issued by the Cabinet Secretariat in February this year, officials of the Health, Road Construction, Urban Development, and Rural Works departments were asked to review decisions taken during the previous grand alliance government in the state. (ANI)