Fraud in delivery of milk to Milma; Action taken to recover amount

Thiruvananthapuram: An audit report found fraud in giving the contract to Milma Thiruvananthapuram region union to bring milk from Maharashtra without inviting tenders. With this, action has been taken to recover the extra Rs 46,18,920.10 from the contractor. If the contractor does not pay the lost money, the liability will be on the Managing Director. The recommendation of the audit was to show the distance traveled by the milk vehicle and make a document to recover the extra money from the contractors.

It was found that a contract was given to a company called Omsai Logistics to bring milk from Indapur in Maharashtra at exorbitant rates.

When there was a milk shortage, it was decided to buy milk from Sonai Dairy in Maharashtra. The contract was awarded without inviting tenders. The distance from the establishment in Maharashtra to Thiruvananthapuram dairy is 1481 km on the national highway. But the audit report said that the contractor had paid more amount by documenting that he had traveled 3066 km. A contractor named Praveen brought milk from Mandya to the dairy in Kollam for Rs 52.09 per km. Meanwhile, the contract was given to the dairy in Thiruvananthapuram at Rs 60 per km.

Milma ex-chairman Kallada Ramesh demanded that the missing amount should be collected from the contractor immediately and action should be taken against the officials who had shown wrongdoing.