CBI probe soon on State Data Centre transfer to Reliance

The Kerala Government has informed the High Court that the state government has decided to launch a CBI probe into handing over of the State Data Centre to Reliance Communications in 2009, when CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan was the Chief Minister. Earlier, the Centre was associated with the state-owned Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). 

Advocate-General communicated this decision while the court was considering the petition filed by United Democratic Front Government Chief Whip P.C.George, seeking CBI investigation into the issue. The court settled the plea on this submission. The CBI probe will be on soon.

 

George alleged that the decision without the Cabinet approval stands illegal. George said the role of opposition leader and former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and four others — former director of the Kerala State IT Mission Retan Khelkar, former IT secretary Ajay Kumar, T G Nandakumar of Kochi and Mohan Sukumar, son of former Director-General of Prosecution Kallada Sukumaran in 'manipulating the tender process' for the project to manage the government data centre.

 

Achuthanandan has welcomed the Government decision. "The entire affairs connected with the centre since 2004 when then Chief Minister A.K. Antony entrusted its operation to the Tatas should be examined", he said.

 

The issue had ignited a row ever since the State Data Centre, keeping sensitive data regarding the state was transferred to Reliance. It was termed as a big security risk. Kerala was the first state in India to have a state-of-the art Data Centre exclusively for eGovernance.

 

Allegations were raised that the Centre was handed over to the private player Reliance Communications for Rs 5.9 crore, at a higher cost, setting aside a lower bid quoted by Tata Consultancy Services and HCL. A Vigilance probe into the deal ordered by the government is pending.

 

The then Opposition Leader and present Chief Ministerhad demanded an inquiry into the taking over of C-DAT by Reliance in March, 2011 itself. "The state data centre was started during my tenure as the CM. C-DAT comes under the state IT Department and the deal with Reliance is dubious. The government entered on a deal with Reliance after a second tender as the previous tender was cancelled for dubious reasons. The UDF Government had entered on a deal with CDAC, a public sector unit under the Union Government and even KELTRON, a public sector unit coming under the state was ignored," Chandy toldmediapersons.

 

Meanwhile, the second state data centre was set up with a cost of Rs 22.5 crore, atTechnopark, Thiruvananthapuram recently . With this, Kerala has become the first state in the country to own two data centres. Kunhalikutty said the new data centre would boost Government-to-Government (G-to-G) and Government-to-Citizen (G-to-C)initiatives in the state.