Water project: Govt. ready to face probe, says CM

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, AUG. 26. The Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony, has said that his Government is prepared to face any form of inquiry into the various allegations regarding the controversial drinking water project to be implemented in the State with the aid of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (now Japanese Bank for Industrial Cooperation-JBIC).

``Let there be any form of inquiry into the allegations of kickbacks. The Government has made it clear in the High Court that it is not opposed to an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Now let the court decide what we should do, and we will abide by it,'' Mr. Antony said, while replying to questions in a chat with presspersons here today.

``Which State Government in the country will say that it is prepared to face inquiry by a Central or outside agency? My hands are clean, and that is why I am able to say that,'' he said.

Emphasising that the concern of the Government was only to ensure that the scheme would not be dropped, the Chief Minister said ``I had told both Dr. M.A. Kuttappan and Prof. A.V. Thamarakshan who had raised allegations of corruption in the project when the UDF was in the Opposition, that they should not create a situation where the scheme itself would be dropped. It would mean depriving drinking water to 45 lakh people in five districts.''

Asked why the issue was not discussed in the UDF, Mr. Antony said the Front had not taken a collective position on the issue even when it was in the Opposition. ``Now the UDF Cabinet has taken a decision to go ahead with the project,'' he said.

When his attention was drawn to reports that the Irrigation Minister was not consulted before taking the decision to go ahead with the project, the Chief Minister said that it was a Cabinet decision. ``Then who will believe that the Irrigation Minister was not aware of it? It is the Irrigation Department which prepares project reports for the scheme,'' he said.

The Chief Minister reiterated his position that the scheme had become controversial mainly because of the dispute between the various contractors who were competing to get contract for consultancy of the project. The consultancy firm which bags the contract will get a huge commission of Rs. 187 crores, and the fight is to grab this amount.

Mr. Antony clarified that the funding agency had made it clear that they would not approve the project if global tenders were invited for awarding the consultancy contract. ``So we had no option but to award the contract to Pacific Consultancy International,'' he said.

Asked whether anyone in the present Government was pulling strings for a rival contractor, the Chief Minister said,``let the inquiry cover that aspect also.''

Self-financing colleges

The Chief Minister said the Government had decided to give equal treatment to all communities while fixing the management quota in the new self-financing professional colleges being sanctioned in the State. The decision was taken by the Government by taking into account the communal equilibrium in the State.

Asked whether such a step would mean deprivation of the special rights of the minorities, he said there was no question of taking away any rights being enjoyed by the minorities. So there was no need for them to be anxious about it. ``What the Government is trying to do is to give similar rights to other communities as well,'' he said.

Mr. Antony said the Government had not fixed the quota of management seats in the proposed colleges.

``We are exploring the legal steps to be taken in this regard, and we will announce the decision after Onam,''he said.

Illicit liquor

Later, releasing a book comprising a collection of articles on the veteran prohibitionist and writer, the late G. Kumara Pillai, the Chief Minister said the Government had given special instructions to officials of the Police, Excise and Forest Departments to keep a close vigil on illicit liquor during the Onam festival season.

The officials had been asked to conduct special drives to ensure that no illicit liquor flowed into the State or any illegal brewing took place during the festival season.

Computerisation

Inaugurating a website of the Thrissur District Police, the Chief Minister said the Government was going ahead with its plan to computerise the Secretariat and District Collectorates in the next two years.

The Department of Registration, Treasury and some other sections would be computerised very soon.

Mr. Antony said the Government was planning to make computer education compulsory in schools as part of a move to introduce e- governance at all levels. Computer education would be made compulsory in 2,500 schools in the first phase.

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Section  : Southern States
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