SIDCO falls from govt grace
Corporation is not on the list of accredited agencies to execute public works
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the state finance department came out with revised guidelines for the selection of accredited agencies to execute public works, the Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation was omitted.
SIDCO has been facing criticism for inordinate delay and exorbitant rates charged in the execution of some of the projects undertaken by it.
Industries principal secretary P. H. Kurien told DC that with the government coming out with e-tendering, there was no point in coming up with a set of agencies to undertake public works.
A selection committee headed by the secretary (finance expenditure) with the chief technical examiner, chief engineer (buildings) and professor and head of the department of civil engineering, college of engineering, Thiruvananthapuram as members was constituted to advise the government in selection and accreditation of agencies to be authorised to execute public works and other related matters.
As per GO (P) No. 339/2015/Fin dated 7 Aug 2015, 17 government agencies like Kerala State Construction Corporation, Kerala State Housing Board, KITCO Ltd, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation Kerala, Habitat, COSTFORD etc have been awarded accreditation from one to five years to undertake public works.
But SIDCO was left out of the list enabling the majority of government departments who liaise with the corporation to heave a sigh of relief.
One of the departments that is happy to get dissociated from SIDCO is the Department of Museum and Zoos. “For the last five years, public works amounting to Rs 20 crore have been done here. Their (SIDCO's) work may be good, but the rates they quote are simply exorbitant. The new Anaconda enclosure being inaugurated last Wednesday comes to a whopping Rs 2 crore when it could have been completed in Rs 50-75 lakh,” said a Museum and Zoo official.
When DC pointed out the issue to Mr Kurien, he said SIDCO had deviated from its main objective of developing industrial estates and marketing their production and instead had strayed into public works.
“Unfortunately, most of the accredited agencies do not have the expertise to undertake construction works. Their gimmick is to tide over the loss generated and they recoup the money by undertaking public works,” he said.