In an all-out effort to award the Kochi Metro project to the DMRC, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday directed KMRL director board members from Kerala to support awarding the contract to DMRC at the board meeting on Friday.
The Chief Minister’s instructions gain prominence in the backdrop of the ongoing controversy that the Central Vigilance Commission norms may prevent DMRC from executing the project.
The instructions were given during a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. Only three of the five director board members from Kerala, - Chief Secretary K Jayakumar, Finance Secretary V P Joy and KMRL Managing Director Elias George - attended the meeting.
Minister in-charge of Railways Aryadan Mohammed, Advocate- General K P Dandapani and Law Secretary C P Ramaraja Preama Prasad also attended the meeting.
Two KMRL director board members - Ernakulam District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth and CIAL MD V J Kurien - did not attend. “If there arises a situation regarding the CVC norms, the government wants the director board members from Kerala to stand for DMRC at the director board meeting. The Chief
Minister also said that an assurance would be given that the state would support DMRC in future also,” sources said.
The meeting discussed various possible issues that may arise due to the CVC norms. Kerala will request the Center to relax the CVC norms for the Kochi metro project.