Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Friday slammed ‘the LDF government’s unjustifiable patronage of the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd (ULCCS),’ calling ULCCS ‘the place where the CPI(M) parks its corruption money.’
The government was disregarding procedures and tendering norms to award all major works to the ULCCS, which has entailed huge loss to the State exchequer, Mr. Satheesan said, addressing a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalists’ Trust.
‘Look into the matter’
All work contracts are awarded to the ULCCS without a tender, and even the estimates are prepared not by government departments, but by the ULCCS itself, he alleged. He wanted the State government to urgently examine the matter.
‘’What is a tender procedure for? It is for selecting efficient, experienced entities through healthy competition and awarding the work to the one that has quoted the lowest so that the government does not face a loss,’‘ he said.
In the ULCCS’s case, the tender procedures were being thrown to the winds. If the government indeed wanted to promote a labour society, it can offer a 10% price preference. The previous UDF government also had awarded work contracts to the ULCCS, but not to the extent where tender norms are violated and other firms are excluded from major works, he said.
‘Suppressing dissent’
Mr. Satheesan accused the LDF government of attempting to intimidate the media and political rivals in a bid to suppress dissent and news reports which show it in a bad light. Citing the government responses to news reports on the mark list controversy related to SFI State secretary P.M. Arsho and alleged backdoor appointments at the Kerala Minerals and Metals (KMML), Mr. Satheesan said the government was misusing the police machinery to silence dissent. Mr. Satheesan said that ‘a group’ in the Chief Minister’s office has ‘hijacked’ the police force.
Upright officers have been sidelined in the State’s police force, he alleged. He also termed the case registered against KPCC president K. Sudhakaran — a cheating case involving fake antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal — ‘a fabricated one.’
‘’When secular and democratic political parties are raising their voice against the persecution of the media by the Sangh Parivar and the Modi government, it is shocking to find a frightening example of it in Kerala,’‘ Mr. Satheesan said.
