Rework terms of `Smart City' deal: Achuthanandan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has sought an inquiry into the deal between the State Government and the Dubai Internet City (DIC) group for setting up the Smart City project in Kochi.



At a press conference here on Sunday, Mr. Achuthanandan said the terms of the agreement should be reworked to ensure that the project helped provide employment to educated youth without violating the law of the land.



Nobody should be allowed to reap undue profits in the name of creating employment opportunities, he added.



Reiterating that the DIC had nothing to do with the UAE Government, he said the Government had the duty to prove the charge wrong if it was otherwise.



Retrograde move





The Smart City project, he said, would destroy all the gains that the State had made so far in information technology (IT). The Government had said that land and the buildings at the Info Park in Kochi, besides various concessions, were offered to the DIC, under the State Information Technology Policy. While making the claim, it had hidden the fact that the DIC was neither an IT company nor an IT Park and could not, therefore, claim any such concession. The DIC website described the company as a real-estate dealer. Why should the Government offer



concessions to such a company if not to indulge in corruption? he asked.



Referring to the Government's claim that it had to seek the involvement of the DIC in the project as it did not have the resources to create adequate infrastructure in the IT sector, Mr. Achuthanandan said a huge sum would, however, be spent from the exchequer on the project. The DIC would take up only construction of buildings, which would amount to 10 per cent of the project work.



The Government would have to provide power, water and Internet connections and road and rail connectivity to the project site and provide all support services in the years to come.