The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report on the Commonwealth Games has termed the ambitious project of the city government of taking Tetra communication hand sets as “ill-conceived”. The CAG in its report has noted that “these expensive Tetra sets are, in effect, no more than mobile phones”.
The Delhi government had awarded the contract for Tetra handsets to a multinational company at a cost of `99.81 crores for a 87-month period, covering not only the Games period but also seven years of legacy period.
“A proper assessment of the requirements of Delhi police (the main user) and other public agencies as well as the replacement of existing networks with Tetra (since no communication was permitted by the DoT between Tetra and other networks) was not carried out,” the CAG has noted in its report.
The CAG goes on to note that during the CWG, the Delhi police had conveyed its dissatisfaction with the signal quality and termed it as a failure.
“As regards legacy use, it is not clear how these 3,657 rented Tetra sets will replace Delhi police’s existing radio communication system of nearly 11,000 sets. Post-CWG, most of these expensive Tetra sets are, in effect, no more than mobile phones,” the CAG has noted in its adverse remark.
The CAG has further mentioned that despite its reluctance to join the Tetra for legacy use, the Delhi police did not take a decision in this regard in time and was “effectively forced” to go along with the proposal.
The CAG has also noted that though it does not question the decision to employ Tetra sets for the CWG, the decision to extend it for legacy use for seven years was “ill-conceived”.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Harsh Vardhan has sought a CBI probe into the procurement of the Tetra communication handsets, while alleging that the project cost was to the tune of `230 crores.
“I had, through a letter dated April, 20, 2010, brought the scam to the knowledge of the President of India, the Prime Minister, home minister, UPA chairperson, lieutenant-governor, Delhi chief secretary, CBI director and the CVC, but no action was taken by any of them,” he said.