The Pinarayi Vijayan led Kerala government has seemingly backed out from a controversial deal with a US firm after the Kerala fishermen threatened to start an agitation if the state government didn’t pay heed to their concerns.
Kerala has cancelled an agreement between Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) and the US-based EMCC to build 400 trawlers and five motherships after sustained pressure from the state’s fishermen. In fact, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has also ordered a probe to unearth the circumstances that led to the inking of the deal.
“The government was not aware of it. There is something mysterious about it. The KSINC managing director has not informed the government about it,” said CM Vijayan, claiming that the state government wasn’t aware of the deal.
The decision to backtrack from the deal is being seen as a face-saving measure by the Kerala government after the state fishermen put the administration in a tight spot, accusing it of deviating from the state’s policy to protect their interests.
Vijayan maintains that the deal was signed without the knowledge of Additional Chief Secretary TK Jose with the Kerala CM directing Jose to probe the allegations raised by opposition leader Chennithala. Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma also claimed that the administration wasn’t aware of the deal.
N Prasanth, the MD of the state-run KSINC is now set to face a department-level enquiry over the deal which is reported to be worth Rs 2950 crore to build the trawlers, mothership and development of ports. It is pertinent to note that KSINC continues to maintain that it had signed the deal as part of the Rs 5000 crore proposal that came up during the Ascent investors meet held last year.
While the Communist government claims that it wasn’t aware of any such deal, the leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that not only was the Kerala government involved at the various stages of the deal, in fact, the company representatives had met the Chief Minister as well.
Trying to play safe, ahead of the Kerala Assembly Elections this year, Vijayan said, “There won’t be any action that would affect the fishermen community. The Opposition should not think that it can turn the coastal people against the government by spreading canards. We had stated that our policy is to exert pressure on the Centre against allowing foreign vessels for deep sea fishing.”
No matter which way you look at this, the Kerala government has ended up proving its incompetency. If one were to believe the Kerala government’s stance, it is concerning if deals worth thousands of crores are being signed without anyone in the administration catching a whiff of it. On the contrary, if Chennithala’s accusations are true, the Vijayan government was aware and involved in the inking of the pact, it is now acting like a coward by not only backtracking but also shirking all responsibility by blatantly lying.