AIIMS proj under scanner over 'irregularities'

Chennai: Weeks after the Union health ministry appointed a consortium comprising the Salem-based M/s Mukesh and Associates and Nippon Koei India Private Ltd as project management consultants for the construction of 1,900-odd crore All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Madurai, its competitors have written to union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya about "irregularities in the selection process".

Lucknow-based Architect Ashok Kummar from the Arch-En Design said the tendering was "malafide and due process was not followed" while appointing Mukesh Associates as project management consultants.

In July 2021, the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana division of the union health ministry called for an expression of interest for the construction of JICA-funded AIIMS-Madurai. Six companies were selected and three were shortlisted for the process.

Arch-En Design, which was one of the short-listed companies, said the contract was awarded without considering the "criminal antecedents and pending CBI inquiry" against Mukesh and Associates. In a letter to Mandaviya, he said the company was named in an FIR registered by the CBI in connection with eight other projects worth 1,528 crore, awarded to them without following a tendering process.

Submission of the bids was made offline instead of the usual online process to "manipulate" the tendering process.

Third, the clause regarding previous transgressions (involvement of the bidder in any criminal case having a tainted background with respect to convoluting the tendering process, previous blacklisting, etc) was removed from the request for proposal form. He also alleged that the Central Public Sector Undertaking HITES, which has experience in building AIIMS at Guwahati, Gorakhpur and Bhatinda, was also disqualified.

Officials from the health ministry could not be contacted and AIIMS-Madurai executive director M Hanumantha Rao did not respond to messages.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Associates director D Mukesh told TOI that the allegations were due to professional rivalry and jealousy and that no rules had been violated. "We have partnered with one of the biggest Japanese construction firms. We were awarded the tender because we quoted the lowest price and had the experience to construct this building. There is a case pending before the court but we will reiterate that no rules were bent to accommodate us," he said.