Admn Approval not given for works executed in 2024

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 24 : The administrative department, Secretariat has not been giving administrative approval for the emergency works executed under PWD in 2024 on the ground that the works executed are not compatible with the estimated costs.
As such, PWD is not in a position to release liabilities of the contractors who executed the works.
Sources said that no work programmes were drawn up for construction/maintenance of roads in the State during the past two years.
Even though no annual work programme was prepared, emergency works which could not be put off were executed through short notice tenders.
As per the Central Public Works Department’s (CPWD) manual, the department’s Chief Engineer is the competent authority for emergency works or works which are absolutely necessary to be executed.
Going by this manual, work orders were issued for around 150 works through short notice tenders in 2024 under the PWD Chief Engineer.
The total estimated cost of the around 150 emergency works is Rs 80 crore (approximately).
The emergency works included construction of makeshift halls for observation of Patriots’ Day (August 13), Independence Day (August 15), repairing of suspension bridges, repairing of Khundrakpam- Sagolmang road, repairing of Khabeisoi (7th MR) road, repairing of a 6 metre span RCC culvert damaged by floods, repairing of roads inside Kangla, repairing of Shija Hospital road, repairing of 10 different bridges, repairing of garage compound walls of MLAs Awangbow Newmai and Leishiyo Keishing, repairing of MPSC compound wall and repairing of sunken roads in hill areas.
Generally, administrative approvals for such emergency works should be obtained after the work orders are issued. In line with this convention/rule, PWD sought administrative approvals from the adminis- trative department, Secretariat for the emergency works executed in 2024.
Instead of granting the administrative approvals, a gazette notification was issued on October 14 saying that approval of the Chief Secretary must be obtained first through the Administrative Secretary (Works) before declaring emergent/urgent works, said the sources. The sources said that only engineers know the emergency works which must be taken up within a short time.
A lot of proposals come from MLAs of different Assembly segments to take up different works under the emergency works category. But it is the engineers who determine which of these proposals/works are genuinely urgent, the sources said.
Now several quarters have started questioning whether the administrative department’s IAS officers are competent enough to determine whether a work is genuinely urgent or not.
If approval must be obtained from the Administrative Secretary (Works) and the Chief Secretary before works are declared as emergent or urgent, IAS officers will need to carry out spot verification to check whether a work/proposal is urgent or not.
Following the gazette notification of Oct 15, ‘emer- gency works’ proposed by MLAs have been forwarded to the administrative department and it has turned out to be a big relief to the PWD, the sources added.