Speaker scraps multiple Assembly contracts awarded to Uralungal

Thiruvananthapuram: Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has cancelled multiple contracts and fund sanctions related to works in the Kerala Legislative Assembly that had been awarded to the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, citing serious lapses in the execution of the projects.

Among the cancelled projects is a ₹7.5-crore contract for the modernisation of the Assembly dining hall.

The Speaker has also directed that the Public Works Department (PWD) replace Uralungal as the agency responsible for the maintenance of the Sankaranarayanan Thampi Hall. In another decision reversing a policy of the previous LDF government, Uralungal has been removed from the annual maintenance of the Assembly's data centre, with the work being entrusted to Keltron.

The decisions were taken after a preliminary assessment of the contracts and benefits awarded to Uralungal during the tenure of the previous LDF government allegedly revealed serious irregularities and possible large-scale corruption. The Speaker is also expected to order a detailed investigation into the matter.

Earlier, a major financial fraud had been unearthed in the e-Assembly project, which was launched to digitise the proceedings of the House.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Secretariat has also decided to cancel a multi-crore project awarded to multiple contractors for the renovation of the Assembly premises. The project had been approved on a fast-track basis by the previous LDF government, with the first phase of funding already sanctioned. According to official sources, ₹6 lakh had been allocated for soil testing alone.