Keltron sidelined, security at risk: Ramesh Chennithala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Triggering a fresh row over the State Data Centres (SDCs), Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that a private player was being engaged for operations of the two SDCs sidelining public sector undertaking Keltron. In a letter sent to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday, Mr Chennithala demanded that the government  drop the move to award the operations of SDCs to Sify Technologies for five years considering the security risks involved as the state’s vital information were stored in the SDCs.

Mr Chennithala alleged that Sify Technologies was awarded the work deliberately sidelining Keltron. Keltron was eliminated from the selection process by prescribing skills in implementing cloud computation as a parameter, though it was not necessary. The government could have also considered the option of training Keltron engineers in cloud technology, Mr. Chennithala said.

Meanwhile, Kerala State IT Mission sources said that the government was planning major cloud implementations at the SDCs and hence it was prescribed as a condition. They also ruled out any data security risks involved, citing that Sify was even handling one of the SDCs at Technopark. It may be recalled that awarding of the SDC operations to Reliance during the term of the previous LDF ministry had also kicked off a row.