Bureaucratic tussle within Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), special purpose vehicle for executing viable rail projects in Kerala on a cost-sharing basis with Railways, has cost the fledgling entity dear with it losing a major work in the State.
According to sources, the KRDCL, also known as K-Rail, could not take part in the tender invited for the expansion of the Kozhikode railway station, a ₹450-crore project, due to the power struggle within the top hierarchy of the corporation.
K-Rail and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) have agreed to participate in the tender. However, the KRDCL could not keep its word to the RVNL after the Director of Finance, KRDCL, reportedly refused to go ahead with the tendering work.
Though former Managing Director V. Ajith Kumar assumed charge of Director, Business Development and Finance, in the corporation on August 2 after he was given a one-year term by the Chief Minister, the Finance department is yet to approve his reappointment.
The Director of Finance was in charge of the corporation when Mr. Ajith Kumar’s tenure ended on July 31. Later, the Chief Minister decided to appoint him as one of the two directors of the corporation. The Finance department is reluctant to give up a top deputation post it received in the corporation.
With the appointment of Director, Business Development and Finance, the officer from the Finance department will be posted either as Chief Finance Officer or will be sent back to the parent department. This has led to a bureaucratic tussle within the corporation, which eventually led to the corporation losing a major project.
However, sources close to the corporation says the Finance department will soon approve the reappointment of Mr. Ajith Kumar as the delay in approving the reappointment is merely procedural. The Railway Board had written to former Chief Secretary V.P. Joy in June requesting to fill the post of KRDCL Managing Director as per the eligibility criteria approved for the selection of MD of joint venture companies.
The tussle is also expected to affect the prospects of important projects such as the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and the Thalassery-Mysore broad gauge line.
