PUDA TENDER SECURED USING ALLEGED FAKE EXPERIENCE LETTER OF PGGC-42

EXPERIENCE LETTER UPLOADED ON PUDA WEBSITE APPEARS ON PLAIN PAPER WITHOUT LETTERHEAD OR OFFICIAL STAMP, TENDER AWARDED DESPITE PUDA OFFICIALS BEING ALERTED ABOUT ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES

Face2News/Chandigarh:

Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has allegedly awarded a tender to a company, Moon Light Housekeeping Services, on the basis of a fake experience letter purportedly issued by Post Graduate Government College for Girls (PGGC), Sector 42, Chandigarh, for the year 2024.

Other bidders had reportedly written to the PUDA Chief Administrator, Chief Engineer (HQ-2), and SE (HQ-2), warning them about the ineligibility of Moon Light Housekeeping Services, which operates from Sector 41, Chandigarh. Despite these complaints, the tender was awarded to the company.

The tender pertained to the annual maintenance and mechanized cleaning of PUDA Bhawan. It was floated on February 18, while the technical evaluation bids were opened on March 19. Complainants alleged that PUDA officials did not even verify the authenticity of the experience letter by contacting PGGC, Sector 42.

It is also being pointed out that the alleged experience letter uploaded on the PUDA website is typed on plain paper without any official letterhead or stamp of the college, which can be seen by anyone accessing the tender documents online.

The then Principal of the college, Nisha Aggarwal, stated that during her tenure, no tender had been awarded to Moon Light Housekeeping Services, nor had any experience letter been issued by her office. She further clarified that the signatures appearing on the alleged experience letter were not hers.

Notably, the tender conditions required the bidder to possess at least two years of experience in mechanized cleaning work using modern mechanized machinery and manual equipment for cleaning PUDA Bhawan. The bidder was also required to have experience in mechanized cleaning of at least two lakh square feet floor area in a single building, completed satisfactorily within the last five years, either as a main contractor or a nominated subcontractor, provided all other eligibility criteria mentioned in the tender document were fulfilled.

When contacted regarding the matter, Anuj Sehgal, Chief Engineer, PUDA, and Virender Sharma reportedly asked the media to speak with Varun Garg, SE, PUDA. However, Varun Garg, Virender Sharma, XEN, PUDA, and Ms. Anita, PA to the CA of Moon Light Housekeeping Services, did not respond to phone calls.