Thread: Looks like 14 IAS officers has been pressurized to say that their nod is not required for the fiber optic cable tender. This is to save the officials involved in illegalities in TANFINET and IT ministry. This thread explains the entire details 
In Dec 2019, fiber optic cable tender packages A, B, C, D were floated for Rs 1950 crores after getting approval from Tamilnadu infrastructure development board as all projects above Rs 500 crores barring few exemptions require their approval.
Before the original tender was floated, TN infra dev board whose executive Committee consists of almost 15 IAS officers made a decision that their approval is needed for the project to go ahead and signed for go ahead of original tender conditions after reviewing them.
Tender was floated on Dec 6 2019. After it was floated, then then IT and TANFINET secretaries Dr Santhosh Babu IAS and MS Shanmugham IAS were supposedly pressurized to change the Tender conditions in favour of specific big companies. They refuse and they were shunted out.
The new IT secretary Hans Raj Verma and TANFINET secretary Ravi Chandran IAS wait for the issue to die down in public view and in the middle of Corona crisis brings about huge change in tender conditions on Apr 15. Turnover and experience requirements were increased by 300%.
Proof of concept which did not exist in any other state was introduced for physical point of contact to bring in subjectivity and discretion in tender. Router config was changed to suit a specific manufacturer.
We reliably learnt that all these tender changes were done to favour 1 foreign company for package A and 1 specific domestic company for Package B, C and D. The Tender changes were also made without getting the approval of TNIDB.
Arappor made complaints on Apr 20, 29 Nd May 14 to CM, CS, Dept of Telecomm, central Vigilance Commission, Competition Commission and DPIIT. DPIIT ordered enquiry and had put a stay on state govt to finalize the Tender until disposal of our complaint.
After this TANFINET withdrew the router configuration since it was a suicidal direct evidence on the illegality pointing to a specific company. Secondly to save the TANFINET officers who had put corrigendum without TNIDB s approval, 14 IAS officers seems to have been pressurized.
These IAS officers seems to have suddenly realize that their approval is not needed for the original tender itself. Then y did they not say it before the original tender itself. TOI quotes a senior official saying that only now they knew Bbnl owns the asset.
Didn't TNIDB read the original agreements with central Govt? Did they sign without reading them? Infact TNIDB mandated their need for approval in original tender knowing fully well that asset is owned by BBNL which means it didnt qualify for exemption then
Now to cover up for the illegality of TANFINET making massive tender changes without TNIDB approval, TNIDBs ECs 14 IAS officers seems to have signed that their original tender approval itself is not required and therefore its null and void.
Clearly, the 14 IAS officers have done great disservice to the civil services and should be ashamed of themselves if they actually did it as per this article. We citizens should not allow this cover up and demand explanations from the IAS officers.
However all these changes clearly shatter Minister @Udhayakumar_RB s claim that there is no illegality. If there is no illegality why these U turns in router config and IAS officer signatures.
Let us as citizens pressurize the IT Dept to cancel the corrigendum and float Tender in a open nd transparent way with original tendee conditions. We should ensure that officials responsible for this such as TANFINET MD Ravi Chandran IAS and Hans Raj Verma IAS should not escape
@karthickselvaa @arvindgunasekar @GunasekaranMu @Ahmedshabbir20 @RKRadhakrishn @savukku @priyankathiru @dhanyarajendran @SiddharthPTOI @sumanthraman @Stalin__SP @Lokpria @lakhinathan Pls go thro this thread. 14 IAS officers pressurized at one go!
