The Kerala cabinet on Wednesday cleared a rehabilitation project to build two townships for the survivors of the landslides in Wayanad but earned the displeasure of the Kerala Government Contractors Association (KGCA) by awarding the ₹750-crore contract to the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) without inviting tenders.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that the two townships coming up at the Kalpetta and Nedumbala estates would have all basic amenities, including houses, schools, health centres, anganwadi centres, markets and parking areas. The list of beneficiaries would be finalised by January 25, he added.

However, the LDF government’s decision to award the contract to the ULCCS has not gone down well with the KGCA, which has 7,000 members.

“When public money is being utilised for a rehabilitation project in Wayanad, the government has to float tenders. When 100 homes or even 150 homes are being envisaged, 30-50 contractors belonging to our association can easily construct a few houses each. Article 14 embodies the general principles of equality before the law and prohibits unreasonable discrimination. Here the Left government is showing its might as all the major infrastructure projects have been awarded to the ULCCS over the last eight years. We have decided to hold a protest march to the secretariat on Monday”, KGCA president Varghese Kannampally told The Telegraph.