Following allegations of corruption, the Kerala government disbanded two firms it had on-boarded.
Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has been ousted by the Kerala state government from the e-mobility project stating that the action has been taken against the company as they did not submit the feasibility report on time.
The Kerala Automobile Limited in partnership with Switzerland based HESS had planned to manufacture 3000 e-buses under the e-mobility project. They were to construct logistics ports in various districts as well.
Since then, the opposition parties in Kerala have alleged corruption in Kerala government’s contract with HESS as a global tender was not invited for the project. Even the finance department had raised concerns on the Chief Secretary selecting HESS without conducting a feasibility study.
In addition to this, the government has decided to not extend the contract with Sprinklr regarding COVID19 data collection. The deal between the Kerala government and the US-based firm was heavily criticised as it was accused that the company collated health data of 1.75 lakh people in quarantine without taking their consent. Details about the patient’s symptoms and underlying health conditions were compiled and sent using a tool developed by Sprinklr to assist doctors and health officials to make a choice about hospitalization.
Ramesh Chennithala of Keral Congress flagged the flouting of due process in awarding the contract to Sprinklr without obtaining clearances from departments like law, local self-government and finance.
According to the contract, it states that if both parties are interested, the contract would be extended.
With the expiry of the contract, the data would now be handed to the Kerala government and removed from Sprinklr’s records.