BBMP audit reveals anomaly in vendor selection, flawed tender

SR industries selected instead of an institution with experience for CET training and accounting courses

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: An annual audit report of the municipal body BBMP has revealed that the officials of the civic body did not do a proper job in terms of selection of the vendor.

BBMP selected a coaching agency for preuniversity (PU) students for the preparation for the Common Entrance Test (CET) along with students of the commerce stream who were supposed to learn the accounting software, Tally.

The report has found anomalies in the selection of the vendor to provide these training services. According to the audit report, the BBMP chose SR Industries, which manufactures and distributes paper plates, instead of choosing an institution that has expertise in training students for CET and Tally.

In the year 2018, the report found that BBMP had paid over Rs 1, 84, 00,000 to SR industries for the coaching of 142 students who appeared for CET and 2,050 students for the training of Tally. BBMP has over 15 PU colleges under their jurisdiction and from a total of 4,400 students, 2,192 students were eligible for the training.

The audit also found that the industry had not attached a copy of their licence along with their application submitted to BBMP while applying for the contract. The mode of selection of the students and their designated colleges was also not mentioned by the BBMP in an order they issued on December 11, 2018.

The chief auditor has said that they wrote a letter to the concerned authorities on December 6, 2019, seeking the details on the issues found but he has not received a reply.According to the report, Rs 10,475 was paid to SR Industries as tuition fees for each student who attended the CET coaching and Rs 8,300 for those who attended the Tally software classes.

However, there are no details regarding the duration of training, certificates issued to students or even the student attendance. “The tender did not have the details on the duration of the coaching classes. The tender process itself is illegal,’’ the audit report has stated.