The Hindu : Corruption in transport project contracts: CPI(M) MLA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 21, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Corruption in transport project contracts: CPI(M) MLA

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 20. The Opposition repeated the allegations made against Ministers on the second day of the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The CPI(M) member, Mr. Mathai Chacko, said that there was corruption in the award of consultancy contracts for the World Bank-assisted Kerala Transport Project.

Referring to the contention of the ruling Front members that two of the consultants were appointed during the LDF rule, Mr. Chacko said that the World Bank loan had been sanctioned and agreements signed after the present Government had come to power. This should explain how the seven consultants had been appointed, he said.

He said that while the cost of construction of one km of road by Indian contractors was about Rs. 25 lakhs, the contract under the World Bank project was for Rs. 1.5 crores per km.

Mr. Chacko said that the Government had disregarded the directives of the High Court in the issue of no-objection certificates (NOCs) for B. Ed. colleges. The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, had directed the issue of five more NOCs despite a court directive to limit the number to 75. "How could the Chief Minister issue such a directive? Mr. Antony is afraid of the Muslim League", he said.

He recalled that the late League leader, Mohammed Koya, had said in the Assembly that one might hear people say that the League Ministers were inept, but there would not be any criticism that they were corrupt. The situation had changed drastically now, he said.

Mr. Chacko demanded that an inquiry should be ordered into the auction of softwood allocated to the Grasim industries by the Government. Since the Government had chosen to auction off the softwood on closure of the factory and failed to fetch market price, the company could now claim that it was not bound to make up for the difference, he said.

He noted that the UDF members had started trumpeting the cause of the PDP leader, Abdul Nasir Maudany, who was under preventive detention in Tamil Nadu, as the elections were nearing.

He said that while the police had charged 13 cases against the convenor of the LDF State Committee, Paloli Mohammedkutty, for organising hartals and other agitation programmes, no cases had been filed against the UDF or BJP leaders.

The RSP (B) MLA, Shibu Baby John, urged the Assembly to move a unanimous resolution condemning the continued incarceration of Abdul Nasir Maudany without trial.

Mr. John said if Mr. Maudany had committed any crime, he should be punished as per the law of the land. But, holding him as an undertrial for such a long period was against all principles of justice, he said.

Mr. John criticised the tendency of the Opposition parties to "celebrate" the failure of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) held in Kochi last year. His remark was in response to the CPI(M) MLA, A. K. Balan's contention that the GIM had "miserably failed." The Congress MLA, P. T. Thomas, referred to the "rampant corruption" in the Kerala Public Service Commission and asked why the leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, who was "waging a war against corruption of all sorts in the State", had not even thought it important enough to merit his attention. The League MLA, C. Moyinkutty, said that the Government's only failing was that it could not effectively place before the people the full range of its achievements. Elizabeth Mammen Mathai made her first speech in the Assembly today.

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