Congress claims corruption, lack of transparency in AI camera project of Kerala govt

Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress on Wednesday alleged lack of transparency and corruption in the implementation of the AI camera project of the Kerala government and urged it to make public the information about the entire initiative, claiming the scheme was "shrouded in mystery".

In a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly V D Satheesan claimed there was no information available in the public domain about the project contract, the agreement between the Transport department and KELTRON and the tendering process carried out by the company.

Satheesan, in the letter, alleged that the cameras were purchased at prices higher than the market rates and there was no transparency in selection of the companies, by KELTRON, for installing the cameras as part of the Safe Kerala project.

He further said that while the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KELTRON) was commissioned by the Transport Department to implement the AI camera project, the service agreement in this regard was not publicly available.

He alleged that KELTRON acted contrary to the terms of the service agreement, as it procured the camera materials and assembled them at high cost and also added huge amounts to the contract for warranty and maintenance, despite there being several AI cameras in the market which came with free warranty and maintenance.

Mystery also surrounds the tendering process carried out by KELTRON to select the contract companies as it is not known who had participated and which firm was finally selected, Satheesan claimed.

Furthermore, while KELTRON and the Transport department entered into an agreement to implement the AI camera project at a cost of Rs 232 crore, the company subcontracted the work to a Bengaluru-based firm -- SRIT -- for Rs 151 crore, the LoP claimed.

He also claimed that SRIT, thereafter, formed a consortium with two other Kerala-based companies to implement the project which indicated that the Bengaluru-based firm had no technical knowledge about the work it was contracted to do.

"It needs to be investigated on what basis a company with no technical knowledge was awarded the contract. All this points to corruption," he alleged.

He further claimed, in his letter, that responsibility for the project was given to KELTRON disregarding the objections of the Finance department.

Since Vijayan inaugurated the 'Safe Kerala' project, envisaged to reduce road accidents and traffic violations in the state last week, the opposition Congress has been vocal about its opposition to the initiative and alleged irregularities and corruption in connection with the same.