In New Indian Express no can hear SPACE scream
By Yasmin Ahmed

SPACE, not as in galaxy or universe, is the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment, and is a non-governmental organization in Kerala which has been in the news recently for bagging several of the ostensibly big-budget projects under the Kerala IT Mission.  Last month, prestigious national paper Indian Express published an ‘investigation’ into SPACE

In December, the website, Express Buzz, of the highly regarded newspaper New Indian Express had run a three part story on what is not palatable about the Kerala government’s IT policy and allegations involving SPACE. It mentioned the name of the individual who was the prime promoter of SPACE, and who was appointed as the special officer in charge of the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) project of the IT Mission.

One allegation was the awarding of projects that ‘run into millions of rupees’ when the IT Mission can allot works costing more than Rs. 20,000 only through tender procedures. Amounts to the tune of millions were mentioned as allotments and a ‘confession’ by the IT Secretary to the government that there hadn’t been any tender call. A number of projects were mentioned as allotted ones to SPACE.

A more serious allegation was that while propagating Free Software, the man in charge was using an Apple laptop, which has the expensive Mac software rather than the free license software. So,  also both the IT Secretary and the IT Mission director of  Kerala, India that spent 2.5 million rupees to hold the free software meet, use Microsoft windows applications. Even the website of the international seminar on FOSS concluded in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was launched using the Apple laptop, they alleged.

And as ‘blatant proof on misuse of public money’, the Indian Express report pointed out that The Insight project office for which the state government pays the rent, is as well used by the SPACE which is a private enterprise.

SPACE definitely had a plausible explanation, and they gave it too. And the newspaper did carry the explanation on Christmas day on the Letters to the Editor page. Remember the maligning report was carried as a three part feature and at a prominent part of the newspaper. The SPACE reply, which may have been edited by the newspaper, was on a page that is comparatively in oblivion.  Only a fraction of the people who read the investigate report would have seen the rebuttal and clarification by SPACE.

Techgoss had a story on the allegation and its possible explanation, but hear it from the horse’s mouth. Free Software activist Dr V Sasikumar carries the full letter on his blog.