Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is planning to remove PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as the consultant for its ambitious Rs 4.500-crore e-mobility project, in a complete u-turn from its earlier stand following directions from the CPM.
The government is likely to justify the decision by saying that the draft agreement was not submitted in time.
The party's intervention comes following the controversy sparked by the agreement that was drafted by M Sivasankar when he was the principal secretary to the CM and the IT secretary.
Sivasankar has been suspended and removed from the posts over his alleged links with the gold smuggling racket that was caught at the Trivandrum International Airport on July 5.
The Opposition will consider the government’s move a victory as it has been opposing the manner in which PwC was appointed as the constant for the project.
It accused the chief minister of arbitrarily appointing the agency without inviting any competitive bids. The leader of the Opposition went hammer and tongs at the government alleging corruption in the appointment. He said the government did not follow norms in selecting the firm.
The state government had earlier removed PwC as the consultant for the Space Park project following the controversy over the appointment of Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the smuggling case, as operations manager. The PwC had recommended Swapna’s name for the post after it was entrusted with the task of making hiring for the post.
Now, the government is also planning to examine the appointment of the firm as the consultant for its K-FON project aimed at providing free high-speed internet connection to families below the poverty line.
The party is of the view that if it is established that the government may have gone astray in appointing PwC as a consultant for various projects, then the contract signed with the other consulting firms should also be examined.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has for long defended PwC, did not confirm if the government has decided not to go ahead with the consultancy contract for the e-mobility project. He also did not deny when he was asked if there was a move to remove the firm.
