Nagpur: In a damning allegation, former Senate member Manmohan Bajpayee said that Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) changed the terms and conditions of a tender to benefit a certain company. Efforts are now being made to rope in blacklisted MKCL to Nagpur University again, media reports said.
Bajpayee has sent a letter to Chancellor Bhagat Singh Koshyari claiming that Nagpur University Vice Chancellor Subhash Chaudhari has floated a tender to rope in a new agency for the university’s examination works in such a way that it would favour the Pune firm, which has a miserable record in most universities where it has worked.
The Pune firm was ousted after a series of media reports exposing how it miserably failed to declare results for over five months, which led to innumerable problems for students. An inquiry was constituted under Deputy Secretary Vijay Baviskar, the report of which has been pending with Koshyari for nearly three months.
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According to reports, Bajpayee said that the VC had deliberately put in the condition in the tender that only software companies which had continuous financial transactions of Rs 100 crore in the last three years would be eligible.
“This makes only MKCL eligible for the tender in Maharashtra. There will be no surprise if the firm again bags the contract despite having been kicked out twice for poor track record and inordinate delays in result declaration. It is an earnest request that all these types of cases should be thoroughly investigated, and strict action should be taken against those found guilty of favouritism,” Bajpayee appealed to Governor Koshyari.
Confirming his claims, NU Exam Section officials said that the last tender floated in 2015 had the monetary threshold at just Rs 5 crore while the new one approved by VC was for Rs 100 crore. “The amount is 20 times more than the old tender, which is unthinkable. This is nothing but an irregularity by the administration to favour Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL). The blacklisted firm would obviously give returns in the form of bribes to officials who favour them,” they said.
