Govt omits local firm in guarantee scheme audit list, faces heat

Bengaluru: Amid mounting criticism over expenditure on its guarantee implementation panels, the govt came under fresh scrutiny for omitting the name of a local firm — Write People — hired to audit payouts under the five flagship schemes.
In a written response to a query from JD(S) member TA Saravana in the council, chief minister Siddaramaiah listed five organisations involved in auditing the state's welfare schemes — Mumbai-based XKDR Forum, law and social justice department of King's College London (Prof Prabha Koteshwaran), Indus Action (Tara Krishnaswamy), Azim Premji University, and Just Jobs Network.
However, his reply did not mention Write People, a Bengaluru-based firm that was engaged in 2024 to assess financial outflow of the schemes.
Alleging an attempt to conceal details, BJP and JD(S) members produced a govt notification approving a payment of Rs 9.2 crore to Write People and questioned why the firm was omitted from the response.
Leader of the House and minister NS Boseraju, speaking on behalf of the CM, insisted that only the five listed firms were involved. But Saravana countered it by displaying the state gazette notification confirming the substantial payment to Write People. He pointed out that the firm was also exempted under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, facilitating direct disbursement of funds.
Leader of the opposition, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, pressed the govt for an explanation, saying, "When the state govt has hired all these firms to audit the effectiveness of the guarantee schemes, what was the need to splurge Rs 60 crore as salary to Congress workers in the name of Guarantee implementation committees at the state, district, and taluk levels?"
As tempers flared, deputy CM DK Shivakumar attempted to pacify the opposition, saying: "Of these five firms, we are only paying Rs 1 crore to Mumbai-based XKDR Forum, and the other four have been auditing the schemes free of cost. You have been asking for information which you think our officials are avoiding. I will get that information if there is any such information."
But the opposition refused to back down and the govt, pushed on the defensive, sought more time to furnish details. Incidentally, the CM's written reply also revealed that an additional Rs 1.1 crore was paid to another Bengaluru-based firm, M/s M2M Media Network LLP, for auditing the schemes.