PANAJI
Nearly five months after the Vigilance Department recommended constituting a three-member Special Technical Team to examine the alleged fraud in the renovation of the iconic Kala Academy, the Goa government gave its nod on January 10, five days before the commencement of the winter session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
The three-member committee will consist of Dr K G Gupta, Head of Department and Professor of Civil Engineering at the Goa College of Engineering, Farmagudi; Sandip Prabhu Chodankar, General Manager of Goa State Industrial Development Corporation and a Professor from the Architecture College.
The recommendation was in fact made by the Vigilance on September 23, 2022 to evaluate the entire process while also insisting expertise from the Public Works Department (PWD) should not be included as it is the execution agency.
The government noting on January 10, 2023 states that the proposed team of officers will be authorized to call for all the relevant records pertaining to the work and also conduct site inspection to enable them to hold a preliminary enquiry into the matter.
The reply came in response to Fatorda legislator Vijai Sardesai’s unstarred question tabled in the House on Tuesday seeking investigation and file notings related to complaints against the renovation work of Kala Academy.
The ACB’s report to Vigilance had concluded that while there is a prima facie indication of the scam, a technical examination will ascertain the fraud.
“The council of ministers was misled to accept the cost of the works at Rs 49.5 crores without having details of the names of the agency and the type of works, etc being undertaken… If true, the PWD and the directorate of art and culture including Kala Academy were complicit in misleading the finance department/council of ministers/CM at the relevant point of time,” the file noting, which was tabled in the House stated.
It further mentioned, “…The technical Cell of the directorate is defunct. Therefore it is suggested that a special technical team consisting of… may be formed to evaluate the entire process…”
The Art & Culture Minister Govind Gaude and the PWD have been under the scanner over serious lapses exposed ever since the commencement of the renovation.
The Goan was the first to report that the Technical Committee will probe into the allegations of fraudulently allocating the work to a private agency, which is not eligible to undertake the project.
Similarly, the huge estimate that got approval from the Pramod Sawant-led Cabinet will also be inquired into.
Two activists Sudip Tamhankar and Avinash Tawares had approached the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and Vigilance respectively alleging large-scale illegality and irregularity in the government project. They alleged that all legal methods were bypassed and the tender of renovation worth around Rs 56 crore was granted to a selective company or persons.
