Agartala: The ruling BJP’s legislator in Tripura Sudip Roybarman trained gun on Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for administrative irregularities while transferring the entire maintenance and construction work of national highways of the state to National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHDCL) from state PWD.
The argument between two leaders of the ruling party in the state assembly has made the treasury bench embarrassed. However, the chief minister claimed that the government had taken the decision of handing over the works of national highways for speedy development and to bring more fund in the state, which state PWD was failed in previous years.
Indicating the ongoing enquiry into Rs 167 Cr PWD scam of 2008-09 where the then minister and veteran CPI (M) leader Badal Choudhury has been in the jail for about three months, Roybarman said that handing over the works to NHDCL without any decision in the cabinet and without any tender among the central government PSUs was not proper and a clear case of favourism.
“I know, you chief minister is personally honest and our government is trying hard to bring transparency in the administrative functioning but the way NHDCL was entrusted the works by the bureaucrats bypassing council of ministers and administrative norms do not speak well to the government. I request you kindly look into the matter seriously and undertake corrective measures immediately,” Roybarman advised the chief minister.
According to Roybarman, erstwhile advisor to Chief Minister Bhai Vijay Chibber, a former secretary of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) in meeting chaired by Union minister of MoRTH Nitin Gadkari in August 2018 had unitarily decided to handover the maintenance work of 146 km national highway to NHDCL from the state PWD, which was not even discussed in the cabinet. (UNI)
