Senior Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala has called for an apology from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan. This comes after the Kerala High Court halted proceedings regarding a contentious software deal in the cooperative sector. Chennithala believes the court’s intervention indicates possible corruption allegations in the project aimed at implementing software in primary cooperative societies across the state.
Chennithala accused the state government of trying to award the contract to the Dinesh Beedi Cooperative Society, despite their significantly higher bid. He highlighted that the per-branch cost quoted by the Dinesh consortium was much higher compared to another bidder, Malabar Information Technology Cooperative. The legislator claimed that if the Dinesh consortium’s bid was extended to all branches, it could result in a substantial loss to the state exchequer.
Detailing the tender process, Chennithala revealed that major firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were allegedly excluded from participating. He further alleged that the state government deviated from standard tender norms and sought to expedite the deal during the election period with special clearance from the Election Commission. The Kerala High Court was approached by Malabar Information Technology Cooperative to challenge the government’s decision to award the contract to the Dinesh consortium.
