No scam in issuing highway contracts, says Jayakumar

Jayakumar, in his statement, said that highly experienced contractors with technical expertise are given work under PBMC and is even approved by World Bank. Under the PBMC scheme the contractor had  to undertake renovation works for five years. 

The renovation works include basic repair works, timely renovation works, emergency repair  works, widening and strengthening of roads, construction of minor bridges and widening them if required, construction of parapet and channels for draining rain water. Apart from the regular works, specific works such as pouring jalli stones for laying roads on the roadside, setting up milestones, placing iron fences for safety, setting up name boards of the places, setting up reflection stickers on the roads and so on are also taken up by the contractors. 

The above said works are undertaken regularly by  the contractor in the five years, after completion of the project. The most important part of PBMC is that the contractor is responsible for repairing the road during the rainy season. 

The practice is in place in many countries and the Union government is  planning to expand the scheme. Under such circumstances a section of media had reported that a major scam had happened in the PBMC scheme and Rs 2,083 crore was allotted to the contractor for road maintenance. The truth is that a division needs not more than Rs 100 crore to maintain its road for a year and so the news of scam in allotting fund was a complete lie and no such amount was  allotted for any contractor, said Jayakumar.