| Work Detail |
SALEM: Tension prevailed at the office of the deputy director of horticulture department here on Tuesday after people raised slogans against the district administration and the state government for floating tender to collect fruit plants from the government farm in Karumandurai without any prior notification.
They said only a chosen few were informed about the tender and the horticulture department was to award the same on Tuesday itself, while its mandatory for any government department to notify the public in advance about any tender being floated through Tamil and English dailies.
Some people, who came to know about the tender, had come to the office of the deputy director of horticulture department at Jagir Ammapalayam in the city on Monday around 1 pm. "The officials did not allow us to submit the applications," said a person, who came to participate in the tender, requesting anonymity.
On Tuesday, they protested the bid to float the tender. District BJP president R P Gopinath attempted to talk to the officials, but in vain. When alerted, the Suramangalam police reached the spot and tried to chase away the people, who had come to participate in the tender process.
Gopinath said the horticulture department had vested interests. He said the officials wanted to award the tender to a person who quoted Rs 9.50 lakh when a few others had quoted more than Rs 16 lakh, causing huge loss to the government.
According to him, the farm, which is spread across 1050 acres, has more than two lakh mango trees of different varieties, one lakh each guava and supari plants, 20,000 sapotta plants and 10,000 pomegranate plants, besides banana plants and jackfruit trees. "Every year, the farm produces more than 6 lakh fruit plants and the department sells them for Rs 1.27 crore. It earns a profit of Rs 17 lakh from the farm annually after all the expenses it incurs to maintain it."
When contacted, district collector Rohini R Bhajibhakare assured to look into the issue at the earliest. "I will check with the deputy director of the department and take necessary action."
Horticulture department officials, however, didnt respond to the phone calls by TOI, despite several attempts to reach them. |
