Arunachal Times, 11 September Politician-contractor nexus root cause of underdevelopment Taba Ajum ITANAGAR, Sept 10: Politicians trying to become executors and even contractors could be a key reason behind the increasing urban mess in our cities and towns, feels urban development and housing minister Venkaiah Naidu. He was speaking yesterday after releasing a book titled Indias Urban Confusion: Challenges and Strategies edited by former UD secretary Ramachandran at New Delhi. Naidu’s statement hold true for the state of Arunachal. Majority of the politicians including sitting MLAs and ministers are contractors. Many of them are operating in disguise using their family member’s firm. Conflict of interest arises when ‘netas’ starts acting as contractors. The duty of politicians is to frame policies and plan new projects. “Most of the Arunachalee politicians are contractors in reality. They are least bothered about development of state. Like any other businessmen for them earning profit is more important than ensuring development. During the time of tender process, they put immense pressure on us to award contract work to the firm of their choice,” shared one government officer. Today most of the major infrastructure projects of state including civil secretariat, assembly building, convention centre (IG Park) and new MLA hostel at Chimpu are lagging way behind the scheduled time. While some of them are being executed by firm belonging to the MLAs, others have the backing of politicians. Chief Minister Nabam Tuki recently visited some of the above mentioned project sites and expressed deep concern over delay in execution of the projects. Arunachal Pradesh Infrastructural Development Corporation (APIDCOL) which is the constructing agency for MLA hostel building, convention centre and Arunachal Bhawan Mumbai managed to get project even though they have miserably failed to complete allotted one on time. APIDCOL is joint venture of government of Arunachal Pradesh and Mumbai based USR group. Even though it is supposedly a joint venture, Govt. of AP has only 20% share while major portion of share is enjoyed by USR group. APIDCOL has totally messed up Mumbai Arunachal Bhawan project. A 26,375-sq ft prime plot near the Vashi railway station in Navi Mumbai was allotted to the Arunachal government at Rs 372 per sq ft in August 1994, and the 90-year lease agreement was signed in August 1997. USR, in turn, entered into a formal 60:40 profit-sharing arrangement with another prominent Navi Mumbai developer, Akshar, for the project. The developers have rented out 14,000 sq ft space to private business companies. It is alleged that Arunachal Bhavan section is limited to 6,500 sq ft on the second floor of the 15-floor structure, which involves total construction of over 61,000 sq ft. Maharashtra government is planning to scrap the lease agreement stating that the agreement has been blatantly violated. Similarly APIDCOL did not able to complete MLA hostel and convention centre on time. Also they have not exhibited any kind of enthusiasm to complete the said projects at the earliest. Despite such unprofessional conduct, it is believed that many local politicians are lobbying for APIDCOL to be awarded work for the construction of various new projects in Arunachal. The politician-contractor nexus can have catastrophic effect as both seem more interested in personal development than the welfare of state. Government of Arunachal should show courage and stop bowing down to the pressure exerted by politicians while awarding work for the major developmental projects. Our politicians should also concentrate in framing policies and do not meddle with developmental projects.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 16:21:12 +0000
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