MCG Contractors Allege Bribes After Arrest

GURUGRAM: A day after the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a computer operator in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram engineering wing for allegedly accepting a Rs 12,000 bribe, contractors associated with civic works alleged that illegal payment demands arise at several stages of project allotment and bill clearance.

According to the bureau, Pawan Kumar, who was working with MCG through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, was arrested on Friday evening while allegedly accepting Rs 12,000 from a contractor. The bureau said the contractor had completed around 90 percent of a renovation project at a cremation ground estimated at about Rs 28 lakh, with a pending bill of around Rs 23 lakh.

What contractors and MCG say

Investigators alleged a demand of Rs 92,000 to get the bill processed, of which Rs 80,000 had allegedly already been paid before the contractor was asked for another Rs 12,000. The bureau then laid a trap and arrested Kumar. The claims remain allegations under investigation.

Manish Saidpur, a contractor and president of the MCG Contractors Union, said some engineers allegedly blackmail contractors and that complaints range from executive engineers to junior engineers, while stressing it would be wrong to say all officers are involved. Manish Bhardwaj, chairperson of the union, said contractors have repeatedly complained about bribes sought to approve and process bills, and that office-bearers are now more willing to approach the anti-corruption agency.

Another person who has worked on several MCG projects, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that unofficial payments can consume a large share of a contractor's margin and affect quality and timelines of public works. Those claims have not been independently adjudicated.

MCG chief engineer Vijay Dhaka said he convenes a meeting with the union twice a month to address such issues, asked any contractor facing a demand to approach him directly, and said he has directed engineers not to delay any file without a valid reason.

Public works depend on clean bill processing as much as on tender award. If vigilance findings show a wider racket, residents will look for transparent e-bill trails and faster charge-sheets. If the case remains limited to one operator, the corporation still has to show that delayed files are cleared on merit. Arrest is not conviction, and the bureau's inquiry will decide how far the alleged network extends.

Cremation-ground renovation and other small civic packages are exactly the files where delayed bill clearance hurts contractors most, because margins are thin and labour payments cannot wait. Union office-bearers said individual contractors, not only office-bearers, must feel safe enough to complain to vigilance without fearing that their next work order will stall. Dhaka's invitation to bring complaints directly to the chief engineer is a useful channel only if response times are tracked.

For residents, the stake is practical: if unofficial cuts eat into project money, finishing quality on drains, parks and community buildings suffers. The SV and ACB case will now test whether the alleged Rs 92,000 demand trail leads beyond one computer operator. Until charge-sheets clarify the facts, the corporation's credibility rests on faster, documented bill movement and zero tolerance for file-holding without written reasons.