Shivamogga, April 20 : Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday said officials have been instructed not to award any works on oral orders in state urban and rural development departments. “Action will be taken against the concerned engineer, assistant engineer, section officers, and in rural areas, PDO and EO will be held responsible. Clear orders have been passed in this regard,” he told reporters here. Bommai said a high-level committee headed by a retired High Court Judge and comprising an economic expert and a technical expert of the concerned department has been constituted to scrutinise tenders above Rs 50 crore. The committee has been constituted under the The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, he said. The tenders would be awarded only after the Committee scrutinises the estimates, tender pre-conditions and other aspects, Bommai said. “It will start functioning within the next few days. If the number of tenders is too many, then a parallel committee would be constituted to ensure speedy processing of the tenders,” he said. On cut-money and Santosh Patil suicide case, Bommai said it is very important to control this, but Patil’s case is different as bills were claimed after executing works on oral orders. “So a thorough investigation is on from RDPR to the Police department. The two issues cannot be equated,” he said. Responding to another question on irregularities in tenders of below Rs 50 crore at district level, Bommai said the government will constitute committees at the district levels too if necessary because the development works should not get bogged down. “This will be done after watching the functioning of the High-Level Committee,” he added. Reacting to a question about caste census report, Bommai said, the backward Classes Commission has been asked to submit its report and suitable measures would be taken as it has long-term implications. In response to a question on cabinet expansion or reshuffle, CM said, “It is not about my prerogative. In politics you have to make the right decisions at the right time.” Replying to a question on revival of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL) in Bhadravati, Bommai said the issue has been discussed with the on government. “VISL is being privatised. We have requested permission to utilise excess land for setting up new industries leaving out the land required for VISL,” he said. Reacting to opposition demands to publish details about Maulvis in mosques, Bommai said the intelligence department and the police are taking several measures and it is not necessary to disclose all those details. BDN SHK1850