DIMTS wants help — at an extra cost of Rs 1 cr

DIMTS wants help — at an extra cost of Rs 1 cr
AanchalBansal
Posted online: Friday , June 13, 2008 at 11:53:06
New Delhi, June 12

Nine months after it was hired to phase out the Bluelines in the city, the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) now says it needs “additional consultancy”.
Pointing out that the work has increased in scope and magnitude, the DIMTS has proposed hiring a foreign consultant to carry out the bidding of the 17 cluster routes. And for it, the agency has demanded an extra Rs 1 crore —which the Delhi government has so far refused to pay.
With the matter being closely monitored by the High Court, even the finance department has raised eyebrows over this additional expenditure.
In a directive to DIMTS, the Sheila Dikshit government has asked the agency to submit a detailed time schedule and progress report of the process before the next hearing on July 10.
The government had hired DIMTS as a consultant in August 2007 at a fee of Rs 45 lakh. The body was to provide a broad framework and carry out the bidding for corporates and cooperative societies — the idea was to get rid of the bus mafia operating Bluelines.
But on May 23, DIMTS arranged a presentation by a London-based international consultancy firm in Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta’s office, in which various bid parameters were discussed. In its letter to DIMTS, the Delhi government has categorically informed the agency that any such decision will be taken only after a consensus between the government’s departments.
“The finance department said if a consultant is hired, the transport department will have to justify the expenditure to the audit department,” said an official. “It was recommended that instead of paying out a lumpsum amount, the transport department sanction the money to DIMTS as and when required.” In this regard, the finance department has also advised that the transport department follow the working method of the Karnataka and Uttarakhand model.
The DIMTS Managing Director, SN Sahai, claimed that the agency has the authority to outsource work and hire a consultant if it needs. “The scope of work has gone beyond what is was when the project was handed over to us so we are simply outsourcing work. The bidding for the first cluster is underway and these things take time as it is the first time something like this is being undertaken,” he said.