Kerala government to drop charges against Ashok Kumar Singh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has decided to drop all charges against former managing director of Kerala Water Authority, Ashok Kumar Singh, finding that the recommendation of the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau seeking action against him with regards to the purchase during his tenure in KWA, did not have any merit. The then vigilance director Jacob Thomas had recommended the government on February 21, 2017, that departmental disciplinary action be initiated against Singh since he purchased and installed software for Rs 30.41 lakh and purchased computers and accessories for Rs 5.27 crore from Keltron without inviting an open tender and violated the conditions in stores purchase manualThe vigilance director had also recommended that since KWA sustained a loss of Rs 1.79 lakh through additional and extra hosting charge paid to M/s Origami Technologies, that amount should be recouped from Singh.Following this, the officer was served a show-cause notice on July 3, 2017. The officer submitted a detailed explanation to the charges, and the government reached the conclusion that the KWA board had taken decision at variance with store purchase manual in the case of an innovative product procurement."The government found that regarding the procurement of computers and accessories, no transgression can be attributed to Singh since Keltron has been approved as total service provider for rendering assistance to departments, including software and hardware procurement and it is their obligation to observe rules and procedures in vogue. Regarding the development and implementation of software, it is seen that the decision to procure items was taken by the board as a collective decision. All the proposals were approved by the high-level committee which consisted of members who are technically competent...," the government's findings said on the basis of the explanation of the officer.It concluded that all the deliverables are multi-pronged and even now, the KWA is harvesting the benefits of the implementation. Moreover, there is no allegation that the officer took any undue advantage in the procurement and the government is of the view that the officer did not commit any grave irregularities warranting disciplinary proceedings, it concluded. Singh, a 1999 batch IAS officer, is currently on deputation at the Centre as director in the finance ministry.