KOLLAM: Reiterating the allegations of corruption in the import of raw cashew kernels by the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) and Capex, KPCC vice-president V.D. Satheesan MLA on Monday said cashew minister Mercykkutty Amma and her husband Thulaseedhara Kurup were its beneficiaries. He also said the explanations given by the minister on three occasions in the legislature were “contradictory to each other” and were “misleading” by not answering to his points.
Demanding a vigilance probe into the allegations, Mr Satheesan said he had “consulted” senior leaders of the UDF including Oommen Chandy and V.M. Sudheeran before raising the corruption charges in the Assembly. Mr Satheesan said he was firm that there was a fraud of Rs 10.34 crore, Rs 3.47 crore in four tenders of KSCDC and Rs 6.87 crore in six tenders of Capex.
“The bid that quoted Rs 118 per kg of raw cashew from Ivory Coast was rejected in the name of high price while the same cashew by another company was approved for Rs 124.50 after ten days, making a loss of Rs 1.82 crore. The managing directors of KSCDC and Capex had given an explanation that the bid was a single tender. However, such a tender was permissible as the bid received was the fourth one in a row of single tenders," he said. "Apart from that, Capex had rejected a bid of Rs 132 while the KSCDC approved the bid from the same company for Rs 142, which was also a single tender.”
The corporation purchased Guinea-Bissau cashew for a high rate of Rs 142 while the same firm had offered it for Rs 132 in a tender floated by the Capex, which led to a loss of Rs 1.75 crore, he added. Mr Satheesan also alleged that by giving relaxations in the tender process including the exemption of third-party certificate on the origin of cashew, the cashew distributors were given a chance to adulterate the raw cashew by mixing up cashew of different origins and selling at high rates.
