Monsoon road digging
Photo: STAR
Road digging in monsoon has become a fact of life as reported in a local English daily on 23 June. This is the result of our way of bureaucratic work. It filters down from any decision to the execution process in a very slow manner. The basic reason for this is that our financial year cycle which is scheduled on July to June basis! Funding resources for public work is effective theoretically from July 1. However, the department concerned to do the work never receive the funds before October/November of the year. It then meanders its way slowly to the Roads & Highways department by December, at the earliest. At last it goes to the Executive Engineer sometime in February/March of the following year when public tenders are invited for it. Now the fun and games start. Should the lowest qualified bidder unfortunately not be the preferred party; the work is re-tendered at the drop of a hat. It could be based on fictitious and motivated objections, raised by and supported by powerful quarters. As this re-tender process goes on; there is back door wheeling and dealing among interested parties, resulting in the cost of the work going up! At last faultless tenders are received with few participants to cover the rule for minimum participation; and the lowest bidder is awarded the work, satisfying the rules; and every one is happy! This fun and games continue till maybe March/April, and at long last the work starts sometimes in May, along with the monsoon! Such is the story of the monsoon-digging episode all over the country! Since we cannot change the start of monsoon season; nor the way of how we go about the work, the possible way out may be to change the financial year cycle to October/September. Then possibly the work will start sometime in the following August-- the ending of the monsoon. We can then do the work for the next seven months without any monsoon mess on the road!
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