Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala enabled a potential Rs 700 crore loss in the procurement of software for cooperative societies.
Chennithala said an agreement was initially signed with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for Rs 206 crore to supply computer software for 4,415 primary cooperative banks in the state.
He claimed that new conditions were later added in a way that prevented TCS from participating, leading to the cancellation of the tender. Under the revised criteria, only two Kannur-based firms became eligible, which he alleged were under the control of the CPI(M).
According to him, one of the firms—Dinesh Beedi Cooperative Society—had no prior experience in software work but had quoted Rs 58 crore, and the government was likely to award the contract to it. He said the overall cost for providing software to around 4,400 cooperative societies would be Rs 915 crore, and awarding the work under the new process could result in a Rs 700 crore loss.
Chennithala further alleged that the state government was waiting for Election Commission approval to proceed with the tender award.
