Thrissur: The government, which was caught in a controversy over roping in a consultant for the e-mobility project, has appointed one for the Life Mission project, too.
The state government has signed a contract for consultancy with Hindustan Prefab Limited, a New Delhi-based organisation under the central government. Mission’s Chief Executive Officer UV Jose said the consultancy would be paid about 0.5 per cent of the cost for the construction of flats as per the tender.
The tender amount for the first stage of the Mission is Rs 75 crore. Tenders have been issued for the second stage.
As per the agreement, the consultancy is for ensuring quality of flats in the 10 districts for which the Mission has directly issued tenders.
Officials said the lack of experts in the state to inspect the quality of the flats constructed with pre-fab technology (construction intended to overcome natural calamities) necessitated the appointment of a consultant.
The government decided to adopt the pre-fab construction method in the wake of the floods in 2018.
The tenders were given in 10 districts in the state except Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram.
Hyderabad-based Pennar Industries has won the construction contracts in seven districts, while Mitsumi Housing will carry out the construction in three districts. In Thrissur, Unitac, a company funded by UAE charity Red Crescent, will construct the flats at Vadakkanchery.
The Perinthalmanna municipality will build the flats in Malappuram district. In Ernakulam, Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has been given the permission, while Costford will work on the Mission project in Thiruvananthapuram. In these four districts, agencies can adopt an approach suitable to them.
The government came under fire from the Opposition for appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers as a consultant for the e-mobility project. The Opposition alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had selected the agency arbitrarily without any tender process.
