THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former State Horticultural Mission director Dr K. Prathapan, who was shunted out to his parent organisation Kerala Agricultural University, has been slapped with another Vigilance case by the LDF government. This paper had reported in July how, despite the existence of three Vigilance cases against Mr Prathapan, the previous UDF government had tried to hide gross discrepancies in setting up of a Rs 4-crore strawberry processing unit at Munnar.
Agriculture minister V. S. Sunil Kumar issued an order on Thursday stating that several discrepancies have been found against Mr Prathapan. Last month, he was asked to return to his parent organisation and is currently serving as the assistant professor at KAU’s Coconut Research Station at Balaramapuram in Thiruvananthapuram. Mr. Prathapan is already facing three Vigilance cases related to vegetable procurement for Horticorp; irregularities in setting up a vegetable outlet at Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat office at Pattom for '9.98 lakh; and for the Central fund allocation through the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
“Finally, the law is catching up with Mr Prathapan after inordinate delay. Despite the UDF Government initiating Quick Verification and recommending Vigilance cases against him, he was protected by the then agriculture minister K. P. Mohanan,” a government official told this paper. During K. P. Mohanan’s tenure, Horticorp had decided to construct a Rs 4- crore strawberry processing plant on the banks of the Muthirapuzha River in Munnar.
A benami contractor named Raju (who was allegedly close to former agriculture minister) was awarded the contract to construct the plant. DC had reported that Mr Raju’s construction company, Green Thoughts,’ was functioning with a fake address in Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram. It was alleged that though Kerala Agro Industries Corporation was allotted the original contract, officials there gave a sub-contract to Green Thoughts. Mr Prathapan had previously held the additional charges of Kerala Feeds Ltd and CMD of Meat Products of India Ltd though he did not have the required qualifications in either meat processing or marketing.
