The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala is yet again facing the ire of the opposition parties, following its decision to hand over the tender of producing the Chief Minister’s talk show from the state-run Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT) to Kairali TV, which is the channel run by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
“Naam Munnottu”, which loosely translates to “We, Forward” is a talk show which began in December 2017, in which Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala CM, would communicate, discuss and debate with the public on various developmental programmes implemented by the government.
C-DIT, which was an organisation established by the Government of Kerala in 1988 for the purpose of advanced research and development and training in the field of technology, was handed over the responsibility of producing “Naam Munnottu”.
But earlier this month, the Kerala government handed over the tender of producing the show to CPI(M)’s Kairali channel, a move which is said to have come as a major blow to C-DIT, which was already reported to have been going through a rough patch, financially.
Opposition anger
Opposition leaders did not waste a moment to attack the Kerala CM and the ruling government for “trying to privatise C-DIT” and for “snatching away major projects from C-DIT to private bodies.”
Ramesh Chennithala, the leader of the opposition in the state lashed out at the Kerala government by stating that this action by the government is the perfect example that they say one thing and do another thing. This was with reference to the state government’s promise of protecting all public and government organisations, when they came to power.
“This government is hell bent on privatising a public organisation which has been functioning well. Handing over the CM’s talk show from C-DIT to Kairali is the biggest example in which the government is trying to destroy the public body. This decision to hand over the project to Kairali was taken to improve the financial condition of the channel,” stated Ramesh Chennithala.
Chennithala also went to state that the projects which were initially handled by C-DIT including the portals of the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) and the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) were later handed over to private players. “The government had also avoided C-DIT from developing Kerala taxi and Kerala Road Transport Corporation (KRTC) online portals,” alleged the Congress leader.
Meanwhile, BJP leader V Muraleedharan accused Pinarayi Vijayan of breaking the promise he made in the Legislative Assembly that he will not hand over C-DIT projects to private companies. “There is obviously some sort of corruption that has taken place behind this move. Also, the state government wants to use people’s money in order to rescue their party channel which is running at a loss,” said Muraleedharan.
Both Ramesh Chennithala and V Muraleedharan had stated that a vigilance probe should be ordered against the “massive corruption” that is being played behind C-DIT projects.
No studio or other facilities
However, speaking to TNM, a source close to the Chief Minister’s Office stated that C-DIT did not have a studio for shoot. “So they used to shoot the talk show in the Chitranjali studio of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). But after sometime, they couldn’t use the studio because KSFDC increased their rent,” said the source.
Later, C-DIT is said to have found a studio at the Russian Cultural Centre, but even though the rent was less, they couldn’t shoot at their desired timings as the studio was reserved for some other shoot.
“So the government invited tender to produce the show and channels like Kairali and Mathrabhumi had applied for the tender. Even C-DIT had applied for tender. But they do not have a studio and their cost of producing a show was also Rs 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh. Kairali quoted Rs 2.5 lakh. Mathrubhumi had quoted more than that. So the obvious choice was to go for Kairali,” said the source.
According to the source, C-DIT did not have the facilities to produce the program. “They used to completely hire all equipments from other private channels. Even the producers and directors were hired on a contract basis.”