TOI : Ghaziabad municipality officially accepts bribes through cheques : Sept 11, 2007
Ghaziabad municipality officially accepts bribes through cheques
Lalit Kumar | TNN
Ghaziabad: If you can’t check corruption, institutionalise it. This is the
bizarre mantra that the Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad (MCG) has hit
upon. Believe it or not, MCG is now officially accepting bribes paid through
cheques that would otherwise have gone into the pockets of its officials.
Here’s an instance of how it works. A contractor who bags a tender for a
government project is now required to pay 15% of the quoted amount to MCG.
That’s the kickback money he would ordinarily have paid to department
employees. But now it’s going into the municipality’s coffers.
This is the new system being put in place by municipal commissioner Ajay
Shankar Pande to “curb corruption as well as enrich the MCG”. And, as much
as Rs 22 lakh of ‘bribe money’ has now officially gone into the corporation’s
account. And this in just two months that Pande has headed the corporation.
Says Pande, “Corruption has gone so deep into the working of government
departments that officials cannot dream of handing out work, or payments for
it, without taking bribes. So, we have adopted this method of officially
taking the bribes, by cheques, into the MCG account.”
Interestingly, most contractors have reacted by revealing the exact
amounts, usually ranging from 5% to 15%, that they had agreed to pay as
bribe. They are signing declarations that they are “voluntarily depositing
the amount that would have gone into bribes to realise payments, into the
corporation’s account. And, this amount should be used by MCG for public
welfare projects”.
But, asserts Pande, giving this “official bribe” does not absolve any
contractor from providing quality work. “Contractors who have earlier done
sub-standard work are being given one more chance because it appears that
everybody was earlier involved in corruption. They have to repair the
shortcomings at their own cost,” he adds.
Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Sep 11, 2007; Section:Times Nation;
Page Number:11
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