Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s signature anti-corruption pledge “na khaunga, na khane doonga” appears to have met its match in the procurement ledgers of Madhya Pradesh’s urban local bodies. A government analysis of purchases made through the GeM portal has thrown up price gaps so wide that officials themselves have flagged the possibility of roughly ₹250 crore in avoidable expenditure — even as the slogan continues to be invoked as a guarantee of clean governance.
Over the past three years, 374 urban local bodies (ULBs) spent approximately ₹1,134 crore on goods bought through the Government e-Marketplace. The review, presented at a recent departmental meeting in Bhopal, documented extreme variations for identical or near-identical items. One ULB purchased a garbage vehicle for ₹2 lakh; another bought a comparable vehicle, complete with four dustbins, for ₹6 lakh. Some civic bodies went further, acquiring garbage vehicles priced at up to ₹1.5 crore each — purchases that prompted questions about whether the bodies even had enough wards to put the vehicles to use.
The disinfectant aisle proved equally inventive. A Nagar Parishad in western Madhya Pradesh recorded phenolic disinfectant (phenyl) at ₹5 per litre; another body paid ₹33,500 for a similar product. In one documented case, 2,500 litres were bought at the lower rate for a total of ₹1.35 lakh. Lighting followed the same pattern: a 60-watt LED bulb cost ₹306 at one ULB and ₹11,800 in Bhopal. An earlier episode that helped trigger the wider scrutiny involved a municipality spending ₹60 lakh on just 200 LED bulbs. A Nagar Parishad in the Bundelkhand region has spent ₹97 lakh on GI octagonal poles, raising doubts about available installation space. Across the three-year period the ULBs also spent roughly ₹65 crore on garbage tippers and dumpers, ₹49 crore on street lights, ₹27 crore on octagonal poles and ₹18 crore on disinfectants.
The numbers were laid out by Anshuman Raj, Additional Managing Director of the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, using AI-assisted analysis of GeM data that matched products even when listed under different descriptions. Raj traced the exercise to 2023, when, as an SDM, he received a complaint about the ₹60 lakh LED purchase and began expanding the check from one municipality to the district and then the state.
In a video of the meeting that has circulated widely, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development and Housing) Sanjay Dubey delivered a pointed warning to the assembled Chief Municipal Officers: “You may think that you have purchased this or that and that nobody is finding out. Let me tell you that we know what you are buying, where you are buying it, in what quantities, and at what prices… Do not assume that we cannot see what you are doing. We do not always have enough time to take action against every individual, but we are taking action starting this year.” He added that the department was now monitoring such purchases and that any belief officials could escape scrutiny was misplaced.
Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing Pratima Bagri responded by ordering a high-level inquiry. “If any irregularity is found during the monitoring, the department investigates the matter and takes action against those responsible. Strict action has been taken in similar cases in the past as well… The video that has gone viral is in our knowledge. We will conduct a high-level inquiry and take appropriate action. Whoever is found involved will face action,” she said. Reports note earlier departmental steps — suspensions, withheld increments and recoveries — in several municipalities and Nagar Parishads, with some cases already under Lokayukta scrutiny.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari described corruption as a “cancer” running through the state’s roots and observed that ministers, employees and officials repeatedly come under scrutiny. He thanked the ACS for bringing the figures to light but pressed for concrete action, noting that Dubey himself belongs to the department. The Urban Development and Housing portfolio is held by senior Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya in the Mohan Yadav government.
The episode has placed GeM procurement practices under fresh scrutiny. While the analysis calculates potential savings rather than proven loss in every transaction, the documented gaps — from phenyl at ₹5 versus ₹33,500 to LED bulbs at ₹306 versus ₹11,800 — have invited pointed questions about how far the “na khaunga, na khane doonga” assurance travels once public money moves from slogan to purchase order. Further examination of invoices, specifications and preferred vendors is expected as the high-level probe proceeds.