Complaint against minister with Lokayukta over corruption in social welfare dept

BENGALURU: Allegations of corruption have surfaced in another government department — this time the Social Welfare Department — in the tender process. Irregularities have been alleged in the Indira Gandhi Career Development Centre’s tender for a Rs 125 crore project, with claims of ineligible bidders being awarded contracts.

A lawyer has filed a complaint with the Lokayukta and also sent it to the Chief Minister’s office, requesting an investigation. There are allegations that the department has been accused of awarding tenders to unqualified bidders for competitive exam training centers for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students.

The major complaints

The complaint alleges that the minister is involved in the irregularities.

The tender was awarded to inexperienced institutions that didn’t meet the eligibility criteria, with an inflated cost of Rs 30 crore.

Institutions with only 3-4 years of experience were awarded the tender, despite the requirement of 5 years of experience.

The training institutions allegedly submitted false documents.

Payments were made to ineligible bidders through cheques.

Nikhil, the complainant and lawyer is claiming that bidder who was awarded the tender is not qualified. “According to the criteria, any coaching center should have five years of experience. I have written to the Lokayukta and Chief Minister’s office also. The poor students should get benefit.  The deal for a coaching centre from Vijayapura was closed in a hurry, making payment through an online service, which is against the government tender policy”, he claimed.

The Indira Gandhi Centre for Career Development (IGCCD) is a government initiative under the Social Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka. It’s aimed at providing training and career development opportunities to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, preparing them for competitive exams like IAS, KAS, Banking, RRB, SSC, and Judicial Services.