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States » SouthPosted at: May 5 2025 8:52PM


Karnataka LoP Narayanaswamy alleges tender scam, links minister

Bengaluru, May 5 (UNI) Senior Karnataka Opposition leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Monday levelled grave allegations of widespread irregularities in government tenders, accusing the ruling Congress dispensation of brazenly misusing public funds through manipulated procurement practices.
Addressing a press conference at the Vidhana Soudha, Narayanaswamy cited a recent tender floated on the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) portal for printing paramedical certificates, claiming that the tendering process was skewed to benefit a favoured firm with alleged links to a Cabinet minister.
"During our government’s tenure, each marks card cost Rs 9.45. Under this government, the Paramedical Board initially quoted Rs 100 per card. Following public outrage, the rate was brought down to Rs 91 and later to Rs 44, which is still significantly inflated,” he alleged.
Narayanaswamy said that the work order for the contract was issued on November 29, 2024 — a full five days before the financial bid was formally approved on December 4. “This is a clear violation of the KTPP Act. I wrote to the government secretary on January 8, flagging the irregularity, but there has been no reply to date,” he said, producing documents to substantiate his claims.
He further alleged that the contract was awarded to an event management company with no expertise in printing. “The firm’s director, D Venkatareddy, is reportedly either a relative or close aide of Medical Education Minister Dr Sharanaprakash Patil. This company has no prior experience in printing, is said to be blacklisted, and is facing nearly two dozen legal cases,” he said.
Narayanaswamy also questioned the rationale behind the financial calculations. “If the actual cost per certificate is 45 paise, the total should have been around Rs 2.45 lakh. But the final amount paid is several times higher. Worse still, the tender documents don’t even mention the number of certificates required — leaving it completely open-ended,” he pointed out.
In a separate allegation, he drew attention to a controversial proposal to procure eight outdated MRI machines from Philips. “These are obsolete models gathering dust in a warehouse. Yet, the department is proceeding to purchase them at Rs 11.70 crore each. The specifications were deliberately tailored to exclude newer, more advanced models,” he claimed.
Narayanaswamy also highlighted similar concerns at Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), where certificate printing contracts were allegedly awarded to shell firms. “A retired official has been brought back as a contractor under the pretext of technical expertise. In reality, it’s just another mechanism to siphon off funds through inflated rates and procedural manipulation,” he alleged.
Despite repeated representations to the concerned department and even the Chief Secretary, the government has failed to respond, Narayanaswamy said, raising serious concerns over transparency and accountability.
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Tags: #Karnataka LoP Narayanaswamy alleges tender scam# links minister
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