Kerala govt orders probe into graft allegations against Keltron

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Government has ordered a comprehensive probe into the allegations of corruption levelled against Keltron in purchasing AI cameras for Safe Kerala project.
Industries minister P Rajeeve said the industries principal secretary will probe the accusations and issues concerning the tender process. "It has been decided to put all relevant documents concerning the project in the public domain. Everything has been done in a transparent way, and Keltron has not given a single penny to the company which has supplied the cameras," he said.
He said the technical committee headed by the transport commissioner had cleared the technical bid submitted by the four companies. There were 12 pre-qualification criteria fixed for the bidding process, and the company which fulfilled the criteria was given the contract. The bid clearly mentioned the guidelines to be followed while awarding a subcontract. The subcontract details were given to Keltron by the company which got the bid. Following allegations, government had sought a preliminary report from Keltron, and in this, it gave details of the subcontract. For giving subcontract, conditions have been set such that several matters, including data sharing, should not be given to companies, he said.
He said finance department had sought certain clarifications in the first stage on awarding the subcontracts. The department later approved this. The bidding process began only after getting departmental clearance. There is no need to inform government about the subcontract given by the firm that won the bid, he said. The VCAB enquiry is based on complaints against MVD and there has been no complaint against Keltron, said Rajeeve.