Kerala IT Mission to be revamped
By Kerala IT News

The Minister for Industries, IT and Urban Affairs, P K Kunhalikutty has informed the Kerala Legislative Assembly that the Government plans to completely restructure and revamp the Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSTIM). The Minister was replying to the debate on the demands for grants in the Assembly. He also added that the IT Mission had lost focus under LDF rule.

The Minister stated during the discussion on Oct 13 that the LDF Government had launched several unnecessary and costly projects such as the Centre for Advanced Training in Free and Open Source Software (CATFOSS), the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), the Computer Emergency Response Team - Kerala (CERT-K) and the various IT finishing schools. He announced that all these projects would be reviewed and the present Government would then decide on the continuity of these projects, most of which have become a liability.

It may be recalled that during his first interaction with the media after taking charge as the Minister for IT, Kunhalikutty had said that the IT Mission had to be regulated as it was overstaffed and was working without a focus. Later, in a major decision by the new Government, KSITM was brought under the ambit of Lok Ayukta. The IT Mission has been rudderless for a year as it hasn’t got a full time Director since October 2010. Recently, allegations over several appointments in the Department of IT (Infopark Kochi CEO, ICT Academy Director and CERT-K Director) during the LDF rule have surfaced.

(In Techgoss syndication arrangement with Keralaitnews.com )