Franchisees of the Akshaya Centres are in a deadlock with the government over signing of the revised franchise agreement, which they say contain several clauses with suspicious motives. The franchisees, who are referred to as Akshaya Entrepreneurs, are in charge of day to day delivery of all the services related to the e-district programme and facilitate e-governance in the state by providing hundreds of government certificates to the public through online applications.
Functionaries of All Kerala Akshaya Entrepreneurs Confederation said that the clauses in the new agreement, as per the GO dated 30th April, 2013 allows only a single member in a family to run an Akshaya Centre. Further, a 400 sq carpet area is now mandatory for each centre and Rs 5000 will be charged for permission to shift centres to any other location. Besides this, the assistant district coordinator of Akhaya can slap of a fine of up to Rs 5,000 on entrepreneurs against whom complaints are received.
“We welcome the agreement, but it is a lopsided one. The duties of the entrepreneurs have been categorically mentioned and we are happy to enter into such a bond with the government. But, the haste with which the Akshaya officials set the deadline has raised suspicions. The GO came out on April 30, and the circular was issued by the Akshaya director on May 17, setting a deadline to submit the signed agreement papers on May 29, supposedly to enable the district collectors to sign it on May 31. The director has unnecessarily included a deadline in the circular though the GO does not have one. Entrepreneurs have sought one month time for deliberations on some contentious provisions, but the officials are adamant on the deadline. Some of the entrepreneurs have signed the agreement out of fear that their entrepreneurship will be cancelled”, confederation state treasurer A Ramanadhan said.
State president and Chengannur MLA P C Vishnunath said that some provision of the agreement are dubious and needs discussions. “The Akshya entrepreneurs are struggling to make both ends meet and the agreement needs several changes. I have spoken to the CM over the issue and submitted an official complaint. I will be taking up the issue actively”, Vishnunath told Express.
The confederation members have raised allegations that as the e-district project gains popularity, some of the officials were trying to oust several entrepreneurs by putting in place stringent measures. They allege that the actual objective of these officials is to outsource several projects related to e-governance to MNCs.