Kochi: The opposition Congress is intensifying the allegations against the CPM-led government purchase of AI cameras installed across Kerala in a bid to check traffic rule violations. The Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to make public the details of the Rs 232 crore deal. The cameras have been installed as part of the ‘Safe Kerala’ initiative.
The Congress leader, in his letter, alleged that the contract for installing the cameras is shrouded in deep mystery. There is no transparency in the deal. The fact the documents relating to the deal are not available on government's website or in the public domain adds to the mystery, Satheesan said. He demanded the government to provide orders regarding the contract, the agreement made by the transport department with the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron), information about the tender process conducted by Keltron, the note file and current file regarding the contract.
“When I examined the documents I could access, I could understand that the cameras were purchased at rates higher than the market price and there was no transparency in the selection of companies for the contract. It has been learned that Keltron has been commissioned by the Department of Transport to implement the AI camera project. A service level agreement is known to exist in this regard. But the agreement is not publicly available. It is understood that Keltron acted against the terms of the agreement. While there are many AI cameras available in the market, including those from international companies, Keltron has been buying and assembling the camera materials at high cost. While the cameras available in the market come with free warranty and maintenance, Keltron has added a huge amount for this in the contract. This points to corruption,” the leader of the opposition said.
Satheesan said there was a mystery over how Keltron, which was selected as a consultant in the first phase, selected contract companies and gave additional work including maintenance.
“It has been alleged that Keltron was given the responsibility of the project by overcoming the objections of the finance department to carry out corruption. After the Department of Transport made an agreement with Keltron for the implementation of the project, the company gave the contract for the works project to SRIT, a company based in Bangalore for Rs 151 crore. After receiving the contract, SRIT formed a consortium with Light Master Lighting India Limited in Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram and Presadio Technologies Private Limited in Malaparamba, Kozhikode. From this it is clear that SRIT does not have the technical knowledge to implement the project on its own. It needs to be investigated on what basis a company with no technical knowledge was awarded the contract. Even in the Cabinet note, it has not been clarified who all participated in the tender called by Keltron and which company was selected. This has added to the mystery,” he said in the letter.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had alleged that there was rampant corruption and irregularities in granting of the contract for the project and its implementation. “While the companies, SRIT and the consortium, said that they will do the project for Rs 75 crore, the government projected a cost of Rs 151 crore which has now escalated to Rs 232 crore,” the Congress leader contended and questioned why the amounts kept going up. Besides the alleged financial irregularities, he also claimed that the cameras were only automated number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and not AI-based as claimed by the government.
In response to Chennithala's allegations, State Transport Minister Antony Raju told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that KELTRON has to answer the accusations made by the Congress leader.
He said that the idea behind the project was to bring down the number of road accidents, due to traffic violations, and the resultant deaths.
Amid claims of graft and political favouritism, the Bangalore-based SRIT has stated there was no political interference in entering into a contract with Keltron. Its CEO, Kannur native Madhu Nambiar, said in Bangalore that the company was awarded the project after participating in an international tender called by Keltron.
