BIE Flouted Regulations In Awarding Contract To Globarena

By Vikram M

>Officials privy to bidding process say Board went ahead with the decision despite the firm failing to comply with mandatory regulations

> Globarena refutes allegations of incompetence, wrongdoing, and corruption

Hyderabad: As the controversy surrounding the Intermediate results fails to subside, crucial details are tumbling out of the closet which shows the glaring incompetence and lax attitude of the Globarena Technologies and the Board of Intermediate in the sordid saga.

According to the reliable sources in the Board, authorities involved in bidding process went ahead with awarding the contract to Globarena despite the firm failing to comply with necessary guidelines. There are specifically 11 mandatory conditions of the Board that a firm must fulfill in order to win the contract for offering technological services to Intermediate Board. However, it emerges that Globarena did not fulfill two crucial criteria referred to as the ‘‘sixth’’ and “seventh” conditions.

The former pertains to the fact that, the firm should have in the past five years, before the bidding process, successfully worked with five universities in conducting exams and each of these universities should have at least three lakh students. The latter condition requires that the firm should have in the last five years worked with five reputed universities or educational boards in the country of which the Board of Intermediate Education, Telangana, is also part of. According to the sources, both these conditions were not fulfilled, and the Board officials overlooked this when the contract was awarded to Globarena.

“Despite all their tall claims of being associated with top universities in the country, Globarena, perhaps, can boast of working with JNTU-Kakinada which at that time had only 2.4 lakh students. In fact, this was also done in collaboration with other technology firms,” an official privy to bidding process revealed.

Notwithstanding the fact that Globarena did not fulfill the requisite criteria, officials rue that the Board should have at least acted when incompetency of the firm came to fore vis-à-vis Intermediate admissions, examination fee, students and examiners’ information, issuing of hall tickets among others.

“This would not have happened had the Board acted in time. The technology firm is employed for not just exams but also to offer technical solutions required for the Board during the entire academic year. In fact, due to the technical lapses, the Board is yet to return the examination fee of 15 lakh students who had paid more than once,” the official explained.

Globarena denies allegations

After evading the media ever since the issue came to light, the officials of Globarena finally came out in the open to respond to the allegations against their firm. Speaking to press persons here on Tuesday, the chief executive officer of Globarena V.S.N. Raju flatly denied the allegations of incompetence, wrongdoing, and corruption on their part.

Raju said their firm was awarded the contract only after having complied with necessary regulations and on merit. Both Globarena and Magnetic Infotech were in the race. In fact, Magnetic Infotech was successfully associated with the Intermediate Board for about 15 years.

“Both firms competed in the bidding process in September 2017. In the technical round, where presentations and demonstration were to be made, we came first surpassing Magnetic Infotech. In terms of finances, we quoted less than our competitor. Therefore, for these two reasons, we were awarded the contract,” Raju explained about the bidding process.

On being asked that about the allegation that their firm was awarded the contract only after a top leader in the ruling TRS recommended their name, Raju refuted it. “There is absolutely no involvement of any political leader or a Board official. The bidding process has been extremely transparent,” he said.

The Globarena official claimed that they have the successful track record of working with 24 universities across the country in offering learning solutions and technical support with examination processes.

Also Read: TS Inter Results Fiasco Puts Globarena Under Radar