ગુજરાતી
English
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, May 18, 2024 (Google translation from Gujarati)
The Children’s Nutrition Park at the Statue of Unity is a 5-acre theme park designed and implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The project, built on the theme of ‘Sahi Noorshan, Desh Roshan’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being discussed all over Gujarat due to the scam. A meeting was held between the Forest Department and the Secretary on May 17, 2024.
There have been scams in the Children’s Nutrition Park near the world’s tallest statue Statue of Unity and Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadia. The ticket price for children was Rs 125 and Rs 200 for adults. Very few tourists go there.
Nutritional Park This is India’s first and only Children’s Nutritional Park at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, which gives information to the tourists visiting the Children’s Park about what kind of nutritious food should be given to their children and which food is nutritious for the health of children.
The Nutritional Park has been built in an area of 8 acres. The cost of building this park was 5 crores, which suddenly increased to 30 crores. Pratik Mathur is the manager of Children’s Nutritionist. There are many games like virtual tennis-cricket games, fun field dance platform, ice hockey, etc.
5 crores turned into 30 crores
In March 2019, the contract to build a theme-based outdoor interpretation children’s nutrition park at the Statue of Unity was given to Meroform Company of Noida, Uttar Pradesh for Rs 7.66 crore, the work of which was completed in five months i.e. in October 2019. Eventually the bill reached 31 crores, which was paid by revising the contract project. According to media reports, when the matter came to the notice of CMO officials, they were also shocked and they smell a big scam, they have sought clarification from the officials. Investigation was done. But no action was taken.
Only local tribals have been sacrificed.
The Children Nutrition Park in Kevadia is managed by the Gujarat Ecology Commission. Gujarat Ecology Commission comes under the Gujarat Forest Environment Department.
All the contracts were given by the Secretary and Senior Manager of Gujarat Ecology Commission to Mero Farm Company of Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
This scam was exposed on 28 June 2023. Following all the rules of the Gujarat government, my company got Rs. 5 crore for the basic work. 30 crores were earned. Behind which the officials say that the cost has also increased with the increase in area.
Suratna Rao, who is himself a contractor, has made rules for tribals in the Human Resource Rules of Gujarat Ecology Commission. Tribals are looted.
Secretary, Senior Manager have committed a scam.
It was demanded that the contract of Mero Farm Company should be canceled immediately and action should be taken against it. Warned to start a protest movement by blocking the road if the investigation is not done. An application was given to the collector under the leadership of Bhilistan Line Sena leader Shahid Mansoori.
Investigation report
Regarding the agreement of Children Nutrition Park
The investigation was done from 17 to 19 August 2023. The report of which was given to the government. The investigation committee includes Dr. G. S. Singh, I. F. S. (Chairman), Lomesh Brahmabhatt (Manager – Ecology), Zarin Joshi (Computer Programmer), and Hemal Kondia (Accountant). He himself went to the spot and inspected. This report is very serious.
On March 5, 2019, an agreement was signed with the Gujarat Ecology Commission for design, supply, construction and installation with Meroform Company. Information was not given on which date this agreement was made.
The contract is for Rs. 7 crore work. Despite the fact that the government is a party, it is not notarised. Though signed by the senior manager of the project, it is not approved. The agreement does not name witnesses. It is the stamp of the manager rather than the Gujarat Ecology Commission. The stamp should have been purchased by the government and not by the agency. There is no record of checking the quality of the material used in the construction. There is no provision regarding violation of terms and conditions thereof. The annexures of the agreement are not kept on record.
On 26 December 2019, the contract for operation and maintenance was revised from Rs 7 crore to Rs 7 crore. Work worth Rs 26 crore was done. Despite the increase in the cost of the project, no re-tender was issued.
EMD, security deposit, performance guarantee remained unchanged. The entire action was suspicious. Some special arrangements were made. Due to which the government has suffered serious financial loss. The company has got a big financial benefit.
Work worth Rs 7 crore was done for Rs 26 crore, but the agreement was done on the letterhead of Ecology instead of stamp paper. Though it is a government document, it is not notarized. The annexure to the agreement is not on record. It is also not on record that the agreement was amended. No work plan or statistical information has been prepared. Amendment-3 does not mention reference matters.
The park has not been managed by Meroform Company for 2 years. Another agency is working in their place. There is no record of this agency being approved by the Ecology Commission. No record of administration, management, human resources, recruitment approval, complaints and malpractices.
Correspondence with Meroform Company is from individual employee mail addresses instead of official mail IDs
This is very serious. Therefore, official details are not available. Approval, verification, audit or any other suspicious matter is unclear. Therefore, a thorough investigation has been recommended in this report.
The investigation committee examined the railway stations, attractions, locations of all children’s park projects. In which serious negligence was committed. Lack of repair, maintenance, technical management system and negligence was observed.
All attractions, stations, park projects or facilities were found to be dilapidated to a great extent. Some were closed. Some were closed for 6 months due to technical maintenance. They were found closed for use. Which is very serious. Correspondence with the government is done from a personal email address.
The committee recommended a thorough investigation of the children’s park. In which the committee recommended a thorough investigation of repair, maintenance, upgradation, manpower, technical documentation, approvals and expenditure.
Financial matter
Since the correspondence was sent from a personal mail address, the notes on the park’s financial file, approval, performance check, audit or other matters are suspicious and unclear.
The Ecology Commission never received direct revenue from tickets. But it is available only through the Kevadia Authority.
The revenue of parks like food park, food cafe, sonicary store is directly received by the Meroform Company instead of going to the Ecology Commission. Neither the company nor the Ecology Commission has any agreement, account or document regarding who is the owner of this income.
The fact that the bank accounts are in Ahmedabad is suspicious. Till date, money has been given and taken in this account with the signature of the same person. Their correspondence is done from a private mail ID.
There should be an empowered committee of employees and contractors but it has not been formed. There is no record of this. Therefore this matter should be investigated.
In the original agreement, the Meroform Company was to pay Rs. 3 crore 32 lakh 20 thousand income was to be given. If the income is more than this, then the Ecocoy Commission and the company were to give 50-50 percent share. In which later every month Rs. 15 lakh was agreed to be given in advance to the company. No reason has been given as to why this amount should be given. The evidence is not on record.
Even before the expiry of this agreement, Ecology Commission has paid Rs. 9 crores to Meroform Company. The Inquiry Committee recommended a thorough investigation of serious financial irregularities.
The appointment of auditors or verification of audit as per the terms laid down by Ecology Commission is not on record.
The management was to be done by the committee instead of verbal instructions and personal e-mails of the Finance Officer and Senior Manager of the project. All this was done by a special person of the park.
After the annual audit, the employer introduced the rule of sharing 50% of the surplus revenue with the operator on annual operation and maintenance cost. Which was determined by removing the terms of the original contract. Hence the account of on what basis the 50 percent income was to be distributed is not available.
Improper payments have been made against the advance submitted bills of the company without any verification or audit. Which includes abnormal expenses of staying in hotels and tent city in individual bills. Abnormal expenses have been incurred regarding accommodation. All bills are issued without verification or audit.
Rs. 15 lakhs was to be paid in advance every month, no criteria has been fixed for payment of more than 15 lakhs. Expenditure sanction rules have not been framed.
There are no minutes, notes or proceedings on record for transactions by the Committee.
Findings of the Committee:
1 – Government’s administrative fairness rules or laws do not appear to have been followed.
2 – Performance of Sin. Manager (Project) and Finance Officer appears to be doubtful, raising questions of negligence in duty and deliberate mismanagement.
3 – Performance of Sin. Manager (Project) and Finance Officer is doubtful as they are more in favour of financial interest of Meroform Company rather than the interest of the Government.
4- Immediate strict punitive action appears to be necessary against the person responsible.
5- Intensive investigation along with administrative and financial audit becomes very necessary.
Special Note
Meroform Pvt. Ltd. with Rs. 7 crore 66 lakh 56 thousand work was given but then revised tender of Rs. 26 crores was made 26 lakhs.
After this the amount will be paid. A budget of 30 crores 98 lakhs was made.
The cost of the project is four times more than the cost of the original tender. A new tender was not issued. The agency selected in the original tender was continued. Which is a serious matter and a matter of deep investigation.
During the investigation of the committee, the officials of Meroform Company asked the director to provide details along with the records, despite this he did not listen.
The office has asked to submit the records and give answers but it has been deliberately and arbitrarily ignored.
During the investigation, while verifying the records, bills presented and paid by the private chartered accountant firm of the then finance officer Rachna Mehta, Meroform Company, were found.
Evidence of deliberate attempt by the then finance officer Rachna Mehta to destroy the bills presented by her private chartered accountant firm on behalf of Meroform Company from the office records has been found. It is a very serious and criminal offense. For which it was recommended to cancel his chartered accountant license.
children new
Official letter of intent sent to the bank on July 12, 2023 to add other names for financial transactions in the bank account of Nutrition Park
Not duly submitted to the bank by the then finance officer. So that a bank account can be operated by only one person. Which is a very serious matter.
Statue
The 182-meter-high Statue of Unity was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, 2018.
Tourists
In 2023, 5 million tourists visited Ektanagar’s tallest statue of Sardar. On December 24, 2023, 80 thousand tourists came in a day. The Statue of Liberty attracts 10,000 visitors every day.
Expenditure and income
1.75 crore people have visited in five years. Rs. 400 crore earned from ticket sales till October 2023. The SOU collects around Rs 80 crore on tickets every year. The Taj Mahal recorded a turnover of Rs. 25 crore per year. It will take at least 120 years for the SoU to break even. 13% of the project cost (Rs 400 crore out of Rs 3000 crore) has been recovered in five years through ticket revenue alone. This project will take decades if not a century to recover its cost, so it failed. Being a Made in China project, Modi’s Make in India suffered a setback. The project was started by Narendra Modi in 2013 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and was dedicated to the nation by Modi as the Prime Minister of India in 2018. It is a statue worth Rs. 3000 crore. If Sardar Patel was alive, he would have refused such an honor.
Toy Train 7 Stations
The toy train stops at 7 stations. The train will stop at Ekta Junction, Nutri Hunt, Payonagari, Annapurna, Manoranjan, Nachanpuram and Swasth Bharat stations. Nutritional information is given to children at each station.
When the station was inspected, major negligence came to light.
Phalshakagriham
The Phalshakagriham station provides information about the characteristics of fruits and the nutrients present in them. The station was closed for six months from January to June 2023. And in 2022 it was also closed for 6 months. This station was closed for a year. Also, the display of the entry giving information about the Kisankumar project was turned on and off by automatic sensor, which was closed for three months in the year 2023. Because there was a problem in technical sensor and volume. Which was not maintained or repaired within the time limit.
Pratishtha
The second station is Payonagari which has milk details. Checked on 18 August 2023, the display in the entrance lobby was closed due to technical fault in March and April 2023.
The Bhulbhulaiya cinema was closed in June and July 2023 due to technical fault in the projector in the AR room. Virtual Reality was closed for two months in February.
There are nutritional stations. The district where the Children’s Nutrition Park was built has the highest level of malnutrition.
According to the data of 2019-20, about 10 mothers died due to malnutrition. More than 350 children have died. Rs 6 crore is spent on the health of children and women here. Still the situation is the same.
Football game in Gamezone Fit India was closed for two months in January and February 2023 due to technical fault.
Nutrihunt Point has been closed for one and a half years. Master Scarboard has been closed for 6 months.
There was a scam of 12 lakhs in the transfer of Forest and Environment Department to Gujarat Ecology Commission. (Google translation from Gujarati) 
