The Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has cancelled tenders worth over Rs 800 crores that were issued during the Mahagathbandhan tenure due to numerous deficiencies. Public Health Engineering Minister Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu announced that new tenders would be issued soon, with all work expected to be completed within six months. The decision followed an inquiry revealing “irregularities in the process of selecting contractors,” according to Minister Bablu.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mrityunjay Tiwari criticized the Bihar National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for the cancellations, stating, “Politics should not be conducted with such a mentality. Today, they are in power; tomorrow, we might be. In 17 months, Tejashwi Yadav has done a lot of work. There should not be any politics when it comes to the development of Bihar. Because of jealousy, they are becoming an obstacle to Bihar’s development. It is also possible that by the time the tenders are cancelled, Tejashwi Yadav might come to power again.”
Defending the decision, Bihar Minister Nitin Nabin said, “The respective minister and the departmental secretary must have inspected everything. They must have found that the tenders were distributed wrongly and hence decided to cancel them.”
The PHED is responsible for installing hand pumps and mini water supply systems in small habitats and wards. This move follows Nitish Kumar’s split with the RJD and return to the NDA in January this year. After forming the NDA government, an order was issued to review all decisions made by departments previously headed by former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and RJD ministers Lalit Yadav and Ramanand Yadav. In February, the Cabinet Secretariat directed officials of the Health, Road Construction, Urban Development, and Rural Works departments to review decisions made during the previous grand alliance government.