Shillong : Meghalaya Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Marcuise N Marak on Wednesday strongly denied allegations that the department had favoured a Hyderabad-based firm in the allotment of nearly Rs 1,900 crore worth of projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Speaking to reporters, Marak said the allegations were “totally incorrect” and maintained that all contracts were awarded strictly according to government rules and tender procedures.
“On May 18, I saw in the paper which says that Rs 1,900 crore projects have been favoured to Hyderabad firm BAC. I would say that it is totally incorrect,” the minister stated.
He said the PHE Department follows all required norms while awarding contracts and insisted that there was no question of favouring any company.
“Government is very particular about following the norms. There is a tender committee headed by the Commissioner and Secretary in-charge of PHE, and officers from the Finance and Law Departments are also part of it,” Marak said.
The minister highlighted the scale of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Meghalaya, stating that the total approved cost of the scheme stands at Rs 6,737.409 crore, covering 3,762 standalone schemes, including piped water supply to schools, anganwadi centres, and other public institutions.
“This has been distributed across various local contractors and firms,” he added.
Responding to reports based on RTI findings, Marak urged people to verify facts properly before making allegations.
“You should file RTIs and know the projects, how many projects were sanctioned, the amount involved, and who got the work. But after getting the report, if you simply start blaming, then that is incorrect again,” he said.
The minister also explained that many large-scale projects under schemes like JJM, JICA, AMRUT 2.0, and NESID are awarded based on Government of India guidelines, particularly through turnkey and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) models.
According to him, such projects require advanced technical expertise, engineering capabilities, and prior experience, which only a limited number of firms possess.
“Practically speaking, our local contractors who are capable of handling EPC and turnkey projects are very few,” he said.
Marak stressed that the tendering process was “clear and transparent” and said companies secured projects only after meeting all technical and experience-related requirements.
“They got the projects through the tendering process because the technical requirement, expertise requirement, and experience requirement were there. Therefore, there is no favouritism at all,” he stated.
He further clarified that if local contractors met the required qualifications, they would also be eligible for such works.
“Accordingly, these were the firms that came forward and were qualified, and therefore they got the projects on the basis of competency and experience,” the minister added.