Chennai: To curb tender irregularities and prevent officials from bypassing mandatory approval norms, the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) has barred urban local bodies from splitting a single project into multiple smaller estimates to evade state govt’s administrative and financial scrutiny.Officials said that for projects above ₹10 crore, the local body must get the approval of the state municipal administration and finance departments. “So, officials split bigger projects into multiple smaller projects, keeping it under ₹10 crore, and get a council resolution to execute them under the local body’s own capital funding account. This doesn’t ensure funding for the project. Contractors will execute the work, but there won’t be funds to pay them. We will strictly ensure that projects are taken up only if funding is approved, allotted and sanctioned. That’s how the system works. No one should bypass it,” an official said.The circular states that all work must be prepared as a single consolidated estimate and that administrative and technical sanctions must be obtained for the entire project before execution. “This will also improve the quality of projects,” the official said.Over the last two years, GCC has executed projects worth ₹1,900 crore without any financial backing, and bills worth ₹1,500 crore are to be settled by next March. The DMA’s circular has mandated that local bodies focus on essential services such as drinking water supply, sewage, street lighting, solid waste management and building maintenance, before taking up new work.The circular also directs local bodies to prioritise salaries, pensions, retirement benefits, PF contributions, payments due to TWAD Board and Tangedco. “No work or procurement shall be initiated unless sufficient budget allocation is available,” the directive said. “Where funds are exhausted or unprovided for, councils must first approve a revised budget estimate,” it said. The DMA has also made e-tendering under the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act mandatory for all works and procurements.The circular, which replaces the Sept 2021 guidelines and incorporates the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules (Amendment), 2023, has revised the administrative sanction limits for capital and maintenance works executed from general and municipal funds.
