New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is examining Kerala’s failure in the Life Mission project being implemented with the assistance of Red Crescent of the UAE.
The Centre was looking at the Life Mission problem as per the provisions of the Constitution that says foreign affairs and agreements with foreign countries are under the Union list, ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
The Centre had made it clear earlier that the state government had not sought its approval for the MoU with Red Crescent for the Life Mission scheme.
The ministry had explained to the Parliamentary Standing Committee that the UAE Consulate and Unitech did not have the authority to enter into contracts for the Life Mission project without the Centre’s approval.
Th controversy relates to the Life Mission project of the Kerala government that intends to provide housing for the poor, marginalised and the landless in the state. The state government had entered into an MoU with Red Crescent, a UAE-based organisation, for the project in Wadakkanchery.
The construction contract for the project has been given to Unitech. Red Crescent and the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram entered into an agreement with the company to provide it a financial aid of Rs 20 crore for the project.
However, Unitech is alleged to have used a substantial portion of the aid amount to pay commission to some of the accused in the Trivandrum gold smuggling case for helping it win the construction contract.
