The State Assembly dome collapse has thrown up many names and firms of those involved in construction. Of these, Badri Rai and Company (BRC) gets the spotlight.
The BRC was sub-contracted to work on the Assembly building by the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd (UPRNNL), which had been given the contract to build the Assembly building by the State authorities.
In the first place itself one finds the BRC is found on the wrong foot. The UPRNNL in advertising its efficiency and adherence to quality underlines its work culture in its website by notifying that it never sub-lets any of its contracts but does the work by itself. The question that pops up begging for an answer is, if this is so, how did BRC come into the picture then?
BRC is not new to the people of the state. From the few reports available in the press, it was linked with shoddy and unfinished work in at least three cases in the state.
It’s slow-paced work on Damra-Bajengdoba road for which it won the tender last year came up for criticism as recently as earlier this month. The others are a multipurpose commercial project in Polo in the capital, and PA Sangma Stadium project in Tura. State BJP president, Ernest Mawrie confirmed the low quality of these jobs in a talk with media outlets.
BRC in its website says that it was established in 1975 in Duliajan, Assam. In the website, the company heads are named as Directors/partners: Arun Kumar Rai, Ajay Kumar Rai and Anuj Kansal. (https://www.badriraico.com/our-management).
It is learnt that persons having the same names are also registered as directors of other firms, mainly one called the Badri Rai Construction Private Limited. From this it can be surmised that Badri Rai & Co and Badri Rai Construction Private limited are under the same management.
Though the various government authorities along with the opposition spokespersons who spoke to the press on the Assembly dome collapse issue and variously mention that Badri Rai and Co is an Uttar Pradesh based company, but it information shows otherwise as its directors have a strong Shillong link in the form of a distillation company.
It learnt from the websites, which keep a track of companies and their management that these same names are shown as directors in a newly incorporated company called Umiam Distilliation Private Limited, which is located in the government sponsored industrial Estate, Umiam (Barapani). Arun Kumar Rai and Ajay Kumar Rai are named as the directors of this company. It was incorporated on September 2021. Its address is given as Bishop Cotton Road, Shillong.
