Thiruvananthapuram: With less than a year left in office, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has rolled out a series of conclaves and summits, even as questions over their costs and real benefits loom large.

Much like the Navakerala Sadas and the Keraleeyam event, the expenditure for these gatherings has not been disclosed. Despite being raised as the very first question in the ongoing Assembly session, the Chief Minister failed to provide a clear answer. He is set to face further questions in the Assembly on Tuesday regarding the conclaves organised by his government.

Unofficial estimates suggest that over the past nine months alone, the government has spent around ₹35 lakh on conclaves. Barring the Global Investors Summit, which led to some project investments, most of these events have failed to yield tangible benefits to the state. Unfazed, the government is moving forward, with two more conclaves scheduled within the next month.

The majority of these events were organised by the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), an agency functioning under the IT Department, which in turn comes directly under the Chief Minister. C-DIT, lacking expertise in event management, has subcontracted the work to private event management firms without inviting tenders.

The first conclave this year was the Vizhinjam Conclave, organised by the Industries Department in January as a precursor to the two-day Global Investors Meet held in Kochi. The budget set aside for the Investors Meet was ₹27 crore.

In April, the Department of Local Self-Governance and the Suchitwa Mission jointly organised a week-long conclave titled Vrithi in Thiruvananthapuram. This was followed by Bhoomi, a conclave by the Revenue Department in connection with the digital land survey. August saw the hosting of a Cinema Conclave, with a promise to frame the state’s cinema policy within two months. Reports suggest that around ₹1 crore was spent on this project.

The Urban Conclave held in Kochi by the Local Self-Government Department via C-DIT cost around ₹5 crore, of which ₹4.5 crore was collected from local bodies across the state. That same month, a Skill Conclave was conducted under K-DISC. Titled Blue Tides, the event had an official allocation of ₹2 crore, though the final expenditure has not yet been revealed.

Later, in the Assembly, the Fisheries Minister clarified that the event was not intended as an investors’ meet but rather as a platform to discuss innovative ideas. Following this, the State Pollution Control Board hosted an Ecology Conclave last month, while the Industries Department conducted a Coir Conclave in Alappuzha earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing to host a Life Science Conclave named Bio Connect in Kovalam on October 9 and 10. Shortly after, on October 13, a Cashew Conclave is scheduled to be held in Kollam.