KOCHI: While the state government claimed a minor victory with the High Court not staying the Sprinklr deal, the Centre is firm on its stand that there were lapses in the contract between the state government and the US-based company. The Centre has submitted before the High Court that the ‘standard form of contract’, which allows jurisdiction only to the courts in New York, is unacceptable to the Government of India.
Assistant Solicitor General of India P Vijayakumar submitted that the original contract between the Kerala government and Sprinklr, called the ‘Master Services Agreement’, did not have sufficient confidentiality clauses and the agreement to supplement it was entered into by the parties only subsequently. According to the Centre, the integrity of the data already accessed by Sprinklr cannot be guaranteed and the factum of the agreement has not been vetted by the Law Department.
“The terms of the contract are critical, but that does not inspire confidence since the credentials and the capacity of Sprinklr do not appear to have been properly assessed or verified,” the ASG informed the court.The Centre reiterated that there was no requirement for the Kerala Government to have gone in search of entities outside India when there were several companies in the country equally or more competent.
“Had the state approached the Government of India, it would have given the same or better support to the state, as stated to have been offered by Sprinklr, through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).” The Centre said that sensitive personal data of Indian citizens should always be in the control of the state and be necessarily stored in the State Data Centres or in the National Data Centres.
Centre promises intervention
T’Puram: The Centre has informed the state that it will intervene actively in ensuring the return of expats, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “The Union secretary for external affairs has assured the state’s
chief secretary to this effect,” he said.
Govt rules out rethink on pay cut
T’Puram: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has ruled out a rethink on the decision to effect a one-month pay cut on government employees and teachers. A decision on when to reimburse the deducted salary will be taken later, he said.
Fresh trouble for health officials
Kottayam: At a time when the state is preparing to bring back non-resident Keralites from Covid-19 hit countries, people testing positive for the disease after completing the mandatory quarantine period of 28 days has put the health authorities in a quandary.