With the British subsidiary of French train and turbine maker Alstom coming under scrutiny for allegedly bribing the Delhi Metro to win contracts, questions about corruption and bribery in the area of infrastructural projects are back into the light.
As per the charges by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Tuesday, heavy industry major Alstom Network UK Ltd. is being tried for bribing above 3 million Euros to officers and agents of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to secure contracts. The hearing in the case began in the Westminster Magistrates' Court. The next hearing is scheduled for 6 October in the Southwark Crown Court. Two out of the six charges filed against the company in court are related to the DMRC contract.
The DMRC has so far refused to comment on the issue saying that they were not aware of the development. In fact, even the Urban Development Ministry has denied having any awareness of the charges against Alstom in connection with the Delhi Metro. A senior urban development ministry official said, "We are not aware of the charges leveled by Britain's Serious Fraud Office against Alstom for bribing Delhi Metro to win contracts. Nothing has been communicated to us so far. We will take a view once we get something in writing from either the home ministry or the CBI". (As told to Hindustan Times).
The point is that this alleged scam again reminds us of the multiple scams that have happened in the last few years – 2G, 3G, Coalgate, Commonwealth Games (Adarsh Housing Society Scam) …… et al!! The list is already long and with this Alstom–DMRC probable con coming in the news, the corruption record only gets bigger (if not better)! I think this case should be probed further in a timely manner and the culprits be punished accordingly. Although the quality of the metros is not questionable at this point of time but the increase in incidents of corruption at such an alarming rate and scale is definitely not a good sign. It’s funny (not literally) that we keep complaining about corruption at smaller levels where we need to get our simple daily jobs by means of bribing, and there they (the bureaucrats) go with a new, bigger and richer scam!
Any ideas about how we can remove this corruption as well as those who are involved?!
As per the charges by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Tuesday, heavy industry major Alstom Network UK Ltd. is being tried for bribing above 3 million Euros to officers and agents of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to secure contracts. The hearing in the case began in the Westminster Magistrates' Court. The next hearing is scheduled for 6 October in the Southwark Crown Court. Two out of the six charges filed against the company in court are related to the DMRC contract.
The DMRC has so far refused to comment on the issue saying that they were not aware of the development. In fact, even the Urban Development Ministry has denied having any awareness of the charges against Alstom in connection with the Delhi Metro. A senior urban development ministry official said, "We are not aware of the charges leveled by Britain's Serious Fraud Office against Alstom for bribing Delhi Metro to win contracts. Nothing has been communicated to us so far. We will take a view once we get something in writing from either the home ministry or the CBI". (As told to Hindustan Times).
The point is that this alleged scam again reminds us of the multiple scams that have happened in the last few years – 2G, 3G, Coalgate, Commonwealth Games (Adarsh Housing Society Scam) …… et al!! The list is already long and with this Alstom–DMRC probable con coming in the news, the corruption record only gets bigger (if not better)! I think this case should be probed further in a timely manner and the culprits be punished accordingly. Although the quality of the metros is not questionable at this point of time but the increase in incidents of corruption at such an alarming rate and scale is definitely not a good sign. It’s funny (not literally) that we keep complaining about corruption at smaller levels where we need to get our simple daily jobs by means of bribing, and there they (the bureaucrats) go with a new, bigger and richer scam!
Any ideas about how we can remove this corruption as well as those who are involved?!