Highly-placed government officials said MoHA initiated a ‘quiet’ investigation after suspending second class gazetted officer Anil Dutta, who was closely involved in the preparation of the global tender for the mega project announced by the National ID Management Center (NIDMC) at April-end. There is suspicion that Dutta could have been involved in the manipulation of the tender specifications as the specifications approved by the home-ministry level meeting and those that appeared in the global tender notice were found to be slightly at variance. [break]
Officials at NIDMC have remained tight-lipped about the matter. Sources said the internal investigation is being started under a strong directive from Home Secretary Nabin Kumar Ghimire, who says he is determined to punish anyone involved in manipulating tender specifications.
The multi-million dollar project to distribute biometric national ID cards caused controversy after several international bidders knocked at the doors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), complaining that the tender specifications were manipulated to suit the interests of one particular company. They have sought amendments in some of the specifications mentioned in the global tender so that all qualified international companies can compete in the bidding process.
Earlier, during a pre-bid meeting held at the NIDMC office in Singha Durbar last week, 44 of the 45 companies interested in bidding for the ID project had demanded amendments to the tender specifications. Government officials, however, told them that they would issue clarifications over the tender requirements but “not make amendments”.
In the wake of complaints from aspiring international bidders, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) also sought details from MoHA about the specifications of the national ID project.
“We have asked the Home Ministry to furnish details as to what had happened in the tender specifications after we received a written complaint that there was some foul play involved,” said a source at OPMCM.
Meanwhile, the CIAA is also planning to ask NIDMC to furnish all related documents for investigations as they have received a formal complaint. “We have received a formal complaint about it. We are planning to seek all related documents once our decision is approved by the commissioners,” said a senior CIAA official. “Since tomorrow [Friday] is a public holiday, the decision is likely on Sunday.”
The national ID project is the most ambitious ever undertaken by the Nepal government. The first phase of the $117 million project is being undertaken under a grant assistance of $8 million from the ADB. The first phase includes development of necessary infrastructure, including development of software and hardware systems, and distribution of 110,000 national ID cards to Nepali citizens of 16 or above.
While the World Bank will lead the funding arrangement for the second phase, the government will also invest a portion of the cost of the project that aims to distribute national ID cards to over 20 million Nepali citizens in the next few years.
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