Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has tightened its project allocation rules, directing its Engineering Department to award road, bridge and building-related consultancy work only to empanelled agencies to prevent higher-cost contracts to outside firms.
The AMC's Road and Building Committee has stopped the practice of directly assigning projects to agencies outside its approved panel. Any proposal to engage a non-empanelled agency will now require approval from the relevant committee, along with a valid justification. Such approvals will be considered only in exceptional cases.
Work was going outside at higher rates
Road and Building Committee Chairman Dr Jainik Vakil said the Corporation had already prepared a panel of agencies for design consultancy, Third-Party Inspection (TPI) and Project Management Consultancy (PMC). However, officials found that work was also being awarded to agencies outside this list, often at higher rates.
The committee has now made its approval mandatory to regulate the process and prevent unnecessary expenditure. The decision closes the gap between the panel on paper and the practice on the ground, where outside agencies were still getting work directly.
The rule change puts a check on every exception. An official who wants to use an outside agency must now explain why, and the committee must agree that the case is genuinely exceptional before the work can be awarded.
AMC plans in-house Design Cell
Alongside the restrictions on external agencies, the Corporation has initiated steps to establish an internal Design Cell to handle technical work related to civic infrastructure projects.
At present, the AMC hires external agencies for preparing project designs, inspecting construction quality and managing project execution. These consultancy arrangements cost the Corporation lakhs of rupees.
The proposed Design Cell will bring together experts within the civic body to undertake these responsibilities in-house, reducing dependence on private agencies and consultancy expenditure. The shift is meant to keep both the expertise and the spending inside the Corporation.
Commissioner asked to start the process
Vakil said the proposed unit should handle design consultancy, TPI and PMC-related responsibilities to the extent possible. He said developing in-house expertise would help improve the quality of civic projects and make officials more accountable for their execution.
The Municipal Commissioner has been instructed to initiate the process of setting up the Design Cell in the near future. The instruction turns the proposal into a live task, with the Commissioner now responsible for getting the unit started.
Together, the two decisions point in the same direction. Outside work will need committee approval and a justification, while more of the technical work will move in-house, cutting the consultancy bill and keeping control of project quality with the Corporation itself.
