The Kozhikode Corporation’s ISO certification plans, which have been delayed for over a year due to the spread of COVID-19 and the local body elections, may be extended for another six months.
A decision of the finance standing committee of the Corporation to extend the contract with ISO consultancy firm Aqua Management Systems to October 31, 2021, was approved by the Corporation Council on Monday.
The corporation entered into a contract with the consultancy in July 2019, following which the firm trained the civic body employees in various departments and set up 10 quality committees to ensure ISO standards in the day-to-day activities of the corporation. However, the renovation works at the corporation office building was a hindrance to the proper functioning of the maintenance and beautification committee, housekeeping committee, layout identification committee, front office committee and the record room arrangements committee.
Pointing out the importance of an efficient front office and record room for the certification, the consultancy sought an extension of the contract period, which ended in January 2020 to either June 2020 or three months after the completion of the renovation works, assuming that works would be completed by July 2020.
However, the outbreak of COVID-19 affected the plans, with restrictions at the office, as a result of which the renovation could not be carried out as expected. With local body elections scheduled for October 2020, it was decided to renew the contract with the consultancy from November 2020 and conclude it by March 2021. The local body elections were delayed for two more months, further affecting the plans.
At present, the renovation works of the corporation office are progressing fast. The works on the first floor and third floor have been completed.
However, it will take at least six more months to finish the work on the second floor. Hence, the corporation has decided to reschedule the ISO certification process to August 2021 and complete it by October 2021. The finance standing committee has noted that the project may even spill over to the next financial year.
