Massive Cleaning Contract Sparks Outrage Over Budget and Transparency Concerns
A civic body’s ₹576 crore street cleaning tender has sparked outrage over budget duplication and lack of transparency. Activists question staffing details, fund allocation, and rising costs despite poor city cleanliness. They demand suspension of the tender, full disclosure on the website, and an impartial probe into the process within eight days.
Mrudula Narale
Pune, April 29, 2025: A recent sweeping and cleaning tender by the civic body has caused widespread outrage over major budget discrepancies and lack of transparency. Social activists have sounded an alarm, calling for an immediate halt to the tender process and a detailed investigation into the funding allocation and staffing plans.
The civic corporation has spent a large part of its yearly budget on waste management, with Rs. 202.86 crore being earmarked specifically for street sweeping and another Rs. 373.37 crore being routed through divisional offices for the same purpose. Doubts have been raised regarding the justification for having two distinct budget lines for what seems to be duplicative work, especially since divisional offices already manage sweeping operations. Budget reports do not reveal how much of the overall figure goes towards permanent sanitation personnel, raising fears of misuse and lack of transparency in budgeting.
Critics have noted that almost nine percent of the civic body’s total budget goes towards sweeping and cleaning operations, an amount that is considered disproportionate and calls for immediate examination. The absence of a detailed manpower deployment plan is particularly troubling, despite the Health Department reportedly employing around 7,000 cleaning workers. As per Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules, 2016, a single sweepers in crowded localities need to sweep from 40,000 to 45,000 square feet, while in cases of medium density, it lies between 55,000 and 60,000 square feet, and for low-density locales, it covers up to 70,000 to 75,000 square feet.
The contract spans a total area of about 26.62 crore square feet, for which an estimated 5,325 workers would be needed to achieve MSW standards. Yet the number of workers to be deployed and how the implementation of the contract will be tracked are no information that has been supplied. Under the Minimum Wages Act, every employee gets a daily wage of Rs. 898.64, creating a daily wage bill of Rs. 47.85 lakh and a monthly bill of about Rs. 12.44 crore, leaving holidays aside. Information on statutory liabilities, like provident fund contribution and others, is still not made available.
Despite the massive expenditure of funds, there has been no improvement in the cleanliness of the city, sparking claims that the biggest winners of the tender are officials and contractors, not the people. Activists have demanded the release on the civic body’s official website of all tender-related information, including budget planning and staffing arrangements, forthwith. They have also called for the creation of an impartial inquiry committee to probe the tender process and report back within eight days. Until the report from the inquiry is released, they want the tender process suspended.
The scandal highlights larger issues of mismanagement and accountability, as citizens remain plagued by poor waste management in spite of high budgetary allocations.
Read : https://newsdotz.com/pimpri-chinchwad-set-to-pioneer-maharashtras-electric-transit-revolution/
Follow : https://www.instagram.com/newsdotz?igsh=MXRleTNiZnV5eThuYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
