How Rigged Tendering and Twisted Recruitment Rules Sabotaged PMGSY-III in Manipur

As PMGSY-III, aimed at upgrading 1.25 lakh kilometres of rural roads with cutting-edge stabilization techniques, nears its extended March 2026 deadline, Manipur’s rural dreams are being choked by unfair policies. A memorandum from the All Manipur Contractors Associations Forum (AMCAF), including the All Tribal Contractor Association, Imphal, dated September 15, 2025, reveals a tendering process rigged to exclude local contractors, while a controversial appointment in the Rural Engineering Department (RED)/Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency (MSRRDA) exposes deep-seated cronyism.

As we enter the final stretch of PMGSY-III, the program faces a critical juncture, where bureaucratic hurdles, policy inconsistencies, and local grievances ground progress to a halt. With 97 sanctioned road works spanning 783.21 kilometres still un-awarded and at risk of being dropped, the pending status of PMGSY-III in Manipur is a symptom of systemic flaws threatening equitable rural development. Approved in 2019, PMGSY-III shifts focus from mere connectivity to consolidation and upgradation, targeting through routes and major rural links to growth centres, hospitals, and educational institutions.

However, as of October 2025, Manipur’s allocation under PMGSY-III remains in limbo, with no tenders awarded despite years-old sanctions. This delay, entangled in policy amendments, contractor disqualifications, and central-state misalignments, demands urgent scrutiny.

At the heart of the impasse is a contentious amendment to the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) prescribed by the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA). The NRIDA’s SBD, standardized in 2020, sets uniform bidder eligibility criteria nationwide to ensure transparency and quality. Clause 4.4.A(b) requires bidders to have completed one similar work valued at one-third of the estimated cost (or one-fourth in Naxal/Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas like parts of Manipur), crediting PMGSY works completed on time at 120 percent value. This framework has empowered local firms with PMGSY experience to participate and build capacity.

In Manipur, however, state authorities altered this clause in two Notices Inviting Tenders (NITs) dated April 10, 2024, and August 29, 2025, mandating “an experience of Stabilization in road works” as a prerequisite. This new barrier requires bidders to prove prior execution of stabilization techniques—chemical or mechanical soil treatments for road durability—without prior NRIDA approval, violating PMGSY-III guidelines (Clause 11.2) and a 2020 circular mandating adherence to the unaltered SBD. Only in March 2025 did NRIDA grant post-facto approval, following a state request from November 2024. By then, the restrictive clause had disqualified local contractors, many of whom, including tribal firms, had proven their mettle in earlier phases, navigating monsoons, remote sites, and ethnic unrest.

The Ministry of Rural Development’s response, via a September 19, 2025, letter from Under Secretary Jacob Lalmaisawm, acknowledges the memorandum but pivots to a broader directive. Citing a July 11, 2025, extension of PMGSY-III to March 31, 2026, it mandates dropping un-tendered or un-started works and completing only viable ones. Since all 97 Manipur works are un-awarded, they face cancellation. This sidesteps the core issue: the amended SBD caused the non-award. By not reverting to the original document, the ministry risks perpetuating delays, further isolating Manipur’s rural areas, which lag at 60 percent road connectivity compared to the national average, exacerbating poverty and migration.

Why is Manipur treated differently? Neighbouring Assam adheres to the original SBD, with tenders moving smoothly. Suspicions of favouritism loom—could this be a ploy to favour out-of-state firms with stabilization expertise, sidelining local economies? With 97 projects worth Rs 629.87 crore un-awarded, the Ministry’s directive to drop them threatens to deepen rural isolation, disconnecting communities from growth and development.

Parallel to this is a scandal in RED/MSRRDA’s leadership that reeks of cronyism. This move, shrouded in procedural sleight-of-hand, has ignited a firestorm of criticism, particularly as it coincides with the stalled implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase III (PMGSY-III)—a flagship program critical for Manipur's rural connectivity. By flouting newly minted Recruitment Rules (RRs) and longstanding policies against re-employing retired officials, this appointment isn't just an administrative faux pas; it's a blatant example of cronyism that undermines public trust, delays vital infrastructure, and raises profound questions about governance in a state already reeling from ethnic violence and political instability.

 

To grasp the gravity of this scandal, one must rewind to the context. Manipur, often plagued by hilly terrains, ethnic fault lines, and intermittent unrest, relies heavily on central schemes like PMGSY to bridge its rural isolation. With over 97 road projects worth Rs 629.87 crore languishing un-awarded under PMGSY-III, the RED/MSRRDA's leadership is pivotal. Enter Hirom Shantakumar Singh, a serving officer who, on January 6, 2024, was entrusted with the charge of Chief Engineer (RED/MSRRDA) via an order from the Joint Secretary (DP), Government of Manipur.

 

An addendum on January 15, 2024, further empowered him as Empowered Officer, positioning him to steer the department through PMGSY-III's turbulent waters. For over 15 months, he held the fort, navigating bureaucratic hurdles amid the state's 2023-2025 ethnic clashes that disrupted tendering and exacerbated delays. Then, in a move that reeks of political maneuvering, Shantakumar Singh was abruptly ousted.

 

On April 30, 2025, the state government issued a dual bombshell: a Gazette notification promulgating the "Department of Rural Engineering, Manipur Chief Engineer (Civil) Recruitment Rules, 2025," and an appointment order installing the retired Khuraijam Temba Singh in the role. The appointment of Khuraijam Temba Singh as Chief Engineer (Civil) in Manipur's Rural Engineering Department (RED)/Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency (MSRRDA) on April 30, 2025 was a masterstroke of Recruitment Rules (RR)-twisting.

 

This wasn't a routine reshuffle; it was a meticulously crafted bypass of established norms, designed to accommodate one individual at the expense of fairness and legality. The Recruitment Rules, enacted under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, were a hastily assembled patchwork. Titled in the Manipur Gazette (Extraordinary, No. 26, Imphal, Wednesday, April 30, 2025), they superseded all prior rules and specified recruitment methods, pay scales, and disqualifications in the annexed MPSC Form-8.

 

Buried within was a bespoke clause explicitly permitting the engagement of a retired Chief Engineer—a provision conspicuously absent from earlier iterations. This wasn't evolution; it was engineering. The rules came into force immediately upon publication, with no grace period for scrutiny. The very next day, Temba Singh's appointment was formalized, displacing the incumbent without notice or justification.

 

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) April 24, 2019, guidelines mandate a 30-day public consultation for new RRs, but this was ignored. Rules and appointments were rushed through in a single day, suggesting predetermination. This “raises questions about fairness and merit.”

 

This also violates multiple policies: a 2000 Government of India order banning post-retirement re-employment, Manipur’s 2017 Cabinet decision against such practices, and a Chief Secretary-led committee’s April 6, 2017, recommendation to end them. Why craft a bespoke rule for Temba Singh?

 

Speculation points to political connections or a bid to install a pliable figure during President’s Rule. The timing—amid a governance vacuum—amplifies suspicions, especially as it disrupted PMGSY-III’s leadership when continuity was critical. The rushed rules and appointment, formalized in a day, suggest predetermination, raising questions about fairness and political connections.

 

The All Tribal Contractor Association, a key AMCAF member, sees the development as interconnected betrayals. The SBD amendment locks out tribal firms, threatening livelihoods and marginalized communities’ economic fabric. In fact, AMCAF represents thousands of contractors, labourers, and suppliers, many from tribal areas, facing economic ruin in a state with 15 percent youth unemployment. Scrapping PMGSY-III’s 783.21 km risks deepening poverty, limiting market access, delaying ambulances, and hindering education. Compared to Uttarakhand’s 50 percent completion of 1,200 km or Himachal’s 800 km upgraded, Manipur’s zero progress is a policy failure.

 

AMCAF’s solution is clear: scrap Clause 4.4.A(b)’s stabilization requirement, restore the original SBD, and invoke Clause 6.7 of NRIDA’s 2022 Vision Document to allow post-award partnerships with stabilization experts, paired with NRIDA-funded training for tribal contractors. Additionally, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla must probe Temba Singh’s appointment, rescinding it if it violates DoPT and Manipur policies.

 

A broader investigation into the SBD amendment is needed—why was NRIDA’s approval skipped, and who benefits? Manipur deserves a deadline extension beyond March 2026, given 2024-25’s unrest, and community oversight to ensure PMGSY-III’s longevity.

 

To break this deadlock, the Ministry must order Manipur to ditch the amended Clause 4.4.A(b), use NRIDA’s original SBD, and support post-award partnerships and training. An independent probe must uncover why SBD rules were flouted and who gains from sidelining locals. From an opinion lens, this episode reflects a deeper malaise: the weaponization of Article 309 to serve narrow agendas. The 2025 Recruitment Rules, with their perfunctory disqualifications and immediate enforcement, betray no intent for deliberation, undermining fairness and merit in governance.