Pre-tender scrutiny committee too constituted
The State Government has constituted a commission to conduct a study on providing suitable political representation for the backward classes besides appointing a three-member Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee to curb irregularities in tendering process.
The commission which would look into political representation for backward classes is headed by former Karnataka High Court judge Bhaktavatsala. The commission has been constituted following a Supreme Court directive in a case related to ensuring suitable representation for backward classes in panchayat raj institutions and urban local bodies.
The court had made it clear that such political reservation for OBCs could not be given without identifying the political backwardness through a study.
The issue had been discussed at all-party meetings held on March 23 and 31 where it was decided to hold the elections to various local bodies only after making provision for reservation for OBCs. The commission would make suitable recommendations after studying the political backwardness of backward classes in these democratic institutions, said an official release.
According to sources, the commission has been given a three-month timeframe to submit its recommendations to the Government. Retired IAS officer C.R. Chikmath has been appointed as member of the commission.
Pre-tender scrutiny panel
The three-member Pre-Tender Scrutiny Committee is headed by retired Karnataka High Court judge K. Rathnakala.
The committee will have an engineering expert B. G. Gurupadaswamy, who retired as Secretary, Water Resources, and a finance expert K. Nandakumar, who retired as Director, State Accounts and Audit Department, as its members.
The committee has been mandated to scrutinise all tenders above ₹50 crore according to the guidelines already issued to curb irregularities in the tendering process.
The move comes days ahead of the crucial May 11 meeting of the Executive Committee of Karnataka State Contractors’ Association that has threatened to stop work across the State for a month in protest against the alleged “40% commission in contracts”.
