Thiruvananthapuram: Projects worth nearly ₹6,000 crore awarded to the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) during the decade of Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule in Kerala are likely to come under the vigilance scanner, with the V D Satheesan government considering expanding its probe into irregularities in the functioning of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

The government has received complaints that several projects were awarded to ULCCS without following proper tender procedures. There are also allegations that the society itself prepared the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for some projects before being awarded the contracts.

The proposed extension of the investigation comes against the backdrop of a vigilance probe ordered into irregularities in KIIFB's land acquisition and project implementation, based on the findings of a committee headed by Sudha Pillai. The government had on Friday ordered a vigilance probe into the approval granted for acquiring 4,896 acres of land in Kannur district at a cost of ₹12,240 crore through KIIFB.

218 projects over 10 years
Over the past 10 years, ULCCS was awarded 218 projects across various districts under KIIFB, with a total tender-accepted amount of nearly ₹6,000 crore. Of these, 114 have been completed, with a total tender-accepted amount of approximately ₹2,129 crore, including GST. The remaining 104 projects account for approximately ₹3,772 crore. Of these, 88 are in progress, 11 have been approved but not yet started, and 5 have been stalled or discontinued (1 on hold, 1 foreclosed, 1 terminated and 2 packages disposed of).

Several projects have reportedly made little progress despite the passage of years. The contract periods of around 50 projects that remain incomplete have been extended, while work on nearly 40 projects has recorded less than 30% progress.

Major road, hospital and bridge projects in districts such as Wayanad, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta are among those delayed or stalled.

ULCCS rejects allegations
Meanwhile, ULCCS has rejected the allegations and urged the media not to publish reports that it claims are based on misinformation.

In a Facebook post, the society said all KIIFB projects awarded to it were secured through open tenders. It maintained that it had won the contracts by complying with KIIFB's stringent tender conditions and quoting the lowest amounts. The society also claimed that it had executed the projects in accordance with KIIFB's strict requirements and quality standards, adding that all procedures, from tendering onwards, were transparent.