A peanut-jaggery bar popularly known as ‘chikki’ is the latest to become the bone of contention in Andhra Pradesh. The nutrient-filled bar is procured by the government from companies to distribute to government school students across the state as part of the mid-day meal programme known as Jagananna Gorumudda. Allegations of corruption and favouritism have been levelled against the ruling YSRCP government in the tendering process undertaken to procure the chikkis. Senior TDP leader and spokesperson Pattabhi Ram alleged that the eligibility criteria for those participating in the tendering process was altered by the government while calling for tenders, to favour certain companies.
Speaking to TNM, he said the prices were inflated as compared to last year and that the eligibility criteria was altered by the government. “The tender notification of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 can be compared to understand the modifications. Certifications that were compulsory in the notification last year, have been omitted this year. Changes have also been made regarding the requisites for companies to be eligible in the tendering process. The specifications regarding the turnover of the company have also been altered. The overall estimated cost has also increased by around Rs 60 lakh,” alleged Pattabhi Ram. A total of six companies were awarded the contract for supplying chikki under the scheme.
The tender notification released by the Jagan government in 2021-2022 accessed by TNM shows that the requirement for annual turnover of the bidder had changed. While the earlier requirement was for the bidder to have an annual turnover more than the tender value (for the particular zone) over the previous three years, the revised criteria changed this to having the annual turnover more than the tender value only in any one year in the previous three years.
The certifications required was also eased with the bidder no longer required to have Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications. Thirdly, the new notification added that any experience of supplying peanut jaggery chikki to even private companies would be considered as relevant experience. The sentence, "in any reputed private company" was added to the criteria. Pattabhi Ram cited the example of Sree Maruthi Agros, one of the companies that bagged the order. "The GST registration of Sree Maruthi Agros was only done on September 30, 2020. It is a new company. It clearly indicates that the alterations in the notification were made to favour such companies. While the companies may not be owned directly by YSRCP leaders, it raises questions about kickbacks received in return for these orders," alleged Pattabhi Ram.
Dismissing allegations of corruption, Education minister Adimulapu Suresh said the allegations were baseless and was a result of the heartburn the TDP was experiencing due to the success of the mid-day meal scheme. “Jaganna Gorumudda is one of the important schemes among the many welfare schemes of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The idea was to provide healthy food in a clean and hygienic way to the children in schools. In 2020, the scheme was implemented and it helped improve the gross enrolment ratio of students in schools. Today, students and parents are very happy and satisfied with this scheme. This popular scheme doesn’t seem to have gone down well with the opposition TDP party. Their claim is that a scam has taken place in the tendering process of chikki in Andhra. This is an attempt to poison the minds of the young kids in schools,” he countered.
The Education minister also highlighted how the number of students being enrolled into schools had increased exponentially. Responding to the allegation that there were irregularities in the tendering process, Suresh explained, “The mid-day meals directorate is headed by a senior IFS officer in the capacity of an MD and there are several directors under him. The main difference between the previous government and the present government’s tendering process is that the tendering process happens now by reverse tendering. After the technical process is completed, a computerised process of reverse tendering is used to select the successful bidder from the eligible bidders. Reverse tendering process has been implemented ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power. The aim is to spend public money very carefully and responsibly. Be it eggs or chikki, the same process is followed.” He also denied any deviation in the turnover or relaxation certificates.
Responding to allegations of irregularities in the contracts, he said that the entire process of scrutiny was handed over to a third-party consultant company. “We had laid down some conditions to ensure the manufacturing units are mechanised and so that we ensure they aren't traders or suppliers and are manufacturers. We had handed this process of scrutiny over to Tata Projects Limited, a third-party consultant, so there is fairness in the process,” revealed the Education minister. But Pattabhi Ram questioned why the report submitted by the consultant company had not been made public. “If they have nothing to hide then why isn’t the report being made public?” he questioned.
A total of 62 companies had bid for the order and those who were successful in reverse tendering were given the contracts. The report submitted by the third-party consultant disqualified two companies, Kendriya Bhandar and National Cooperative Federation (NCCF) that supplied chikki to other states in the country. Responding to this, the education minister said, “They may be supplying in several other places but they did not meet the standards that we had laid down and hence did not make it to the eligible bidders.”
Hinting at corruption, TDP’s Pattabhi Ram had claimed that there is an increase of around Rs 60 crore in the expense incurred for procuring chikki when compared to last year. However, the Education minister said this figure was incorrect and explained the reason for the higher expense this year. “There has been a hue and cry about the increase in the expense incurred this year. There is an increase of around Rs 60 crore is the claim, the truth is that it has increased by only around Rs 30 crore.”
According to the minister, Rs 150 crore was the final value agreed upon in 2020, which increased to Rs 183 crore this year because the student enrollment increased from 36 lakh to 42 lakh. “The packaging is another reason why the rates have increased. Earlier one kg chikkis would be manually broken and distributed. We thought it is safe to have it individually packed and distributed,” clarified Suresh.
The ‘Chikki scam’, as it is now being referred to by the opposition, brings back memories of allegations of a similar instance in Maharashtra. In both these cases, allegations were levelled by the opposition parties about the procurement of chikki. In 2015, Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant had filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), alleging Pankaja Munde's Woman and Child Development (WCD) Department had flouted rules and favoured certain companies while awarding contracts worth Rs 206 crore. However, the ACB later gave the minister a clean chit in the scam after it found no irregularities in the purchase.
As part of the Jaganna Gorumudda scheme, the mid-day meal menu was revised and finalised through scientific and professional evaluation. It was decided to provide 15 varieties of food items every week with more nutritional value than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). As part of the menu, eggs and chikkis are provided to the students three times a week. While Rs 1,546 crore was spent for this scheme in 2020, Rs 1,797 crore was spent in 2021 and Rs 1,908 crore has been set aside for the scheme this year. An average cost of Rs 16.07 is spent on each primary school student each day while Rs 18.75 is spent on each upper primary student and Rs 23.40 is spent on each high school student each day. The government also had a four-tier monitoring system in place to ensure best quality food is provided regularly to the students. A total of 17 centralised kitchens across 10 districts are involved in cooking food for 3,321 institutions. On a daily basis, 42,8099 students are given food from the centralised kitchens.
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