Opposition leader V D Satheesan released documents as old as 2018 that showed that three private service providers have won most of the government contracts during the LDF tenure and are linked to the AI-enabled Safe Kerala project had subcontracted all the contracts they had secured during the last five years to one company: Presadio Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Satheesan, in effect, took the allegations straight to the doorstep of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that he had close ties with Presadio. "Though we have been consistently saying that Presadio has close links with the Chief Minister, there is not a word from him," the Opposition Leader told reporters in Kozhikode on Tuesday.
The three companies that had consistently won most of the government bids are: Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS), SRIT India Private Limited and Ashoka Buildcon Limited. Satheesan said these three companies subcontracted all their work and their purchase orders to Presadio.
"Why do all government-funded work contracts go to one company," he asked. "All money, including profits and commission, from these contracts flow into one box, the Presadio company," the Opposition Leader said.
Lending credence to the Opposition Leader's charge, SRIT had subcontracted the AI camera work to Presadio. In another case, Ashoka Buildcon, which won the K-FON bid earlier, had also subcontracted the work to Presadio.
Satheesan said that both he and former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala had urged the Chief Minister to come clean on his and his office's close links with Prasedio.
Satheesan dared the Chief Minister to respond to the Opposition's allegations. "The Chief Minister seems to have hidden inside the rat hole of silence," he said. "All our charges are substantiated by documents and records. The Chief Minister should respond to our charges. Let him show the spine to refute our charges," he said.
The Opposition Leader said that other companies like ULCCS and SRIT are there to collect the orders and grant them to Presadio. "What is so special about this company? What is its link to the Pinarayi Vijayan government," he said.
In the AI Camera project, Satheesan said a consortium was formed by SRIT with Al Hind and Presadio. As per the agreement, SRIT would be entitled to a 6 per cent service charge. Satheesan said Al Hind, which will invest Rs 75 crore, will get a 40 per cent share of the profit. "Prasadio, with no investment whatsoever, will pocket 60 per cent of the profit," he said.
The Opposition Leader hurled a poser that hinted at further revelations. "Was a foreign industrialist present during the meeting held to form the consortium (SRIT-Al Hind-Prasadio)," he asked.
