Amid Covid-19 fight, Kerala govt lands in row over IT deal with US-based firm

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Kerala, the state IT department had inked an agreement with the US firm to process a huge volume of data collected by grassroot health workers of the state. Though no money was involved in the contract the opposition alleged that it was a breach of privacy and vital data.

At a time when the Kerala government has earned praise for checking the Covid-19 pandemic in the state, a controversy involving an American firm over data sharing is threatening to take the sheen out of its success.

The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front has announced a series of agitations from next week seeking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation. (PTI PHOTO.)

The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front has announced a series of agitations from next week seeking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation alleging it was a “sell-out” and many state-based IT and data companies were overlooked to gift the contract to the US firm.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Kerala, the state IT department had inked an agreement with the US firm to process a huge volume of data collected by grassroot health workers of the state. Though no money was involved in the contract the opposition alleged that it was a breach of privacy and vital data. Later, it was found that the state cabinet and law department were not consulted before signing the deal.

Earlier, the CM had defended the government’s decision saying no fee was involved in the contract and one of the top officials of the data firm was an NRI from the state and he offered the proposal to the government “in lieu of looking after his aged parents in Mavelikkara in Alapuzha district”. He had said there was no transfer of the data and it will be stored in a secure server in the country and denied any breach of privacy.

As the controversy flared up, state IT secretary M Shivasankar, also the CM’s private secretary told the media on Saturday that he had taken the decision personally, as the pandemic situation was getting out of control in the state. Later, he also appeared in a promotional video of the deal which was removed from the Sprinklr’s website after the controversy cropped up.