Government to probe allocation of grant

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  The State Government will launch an investigation into financial irregularities alleged in the allocation of a Rs 5 crore government grant to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Minister for Cultural Affairs K C Joseph told the Assembly in a written reply on Wednesday. The Minister was replying to queries by C Moyinkutty and K N A Khader of the IUML on whether the government was prepared to investigate in detail the circumstances under which such a huge sum was allocated as grant to a private trust. Joseph, replying to queries, said it was the LDF Government that sanctioned the grant and the present UDF Government had not allocated any money for the trust. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a cultural extravaganza a la the Venice and Paris biennales, has run into rough weather with complaints arising that the LDF Government had gone out of its way to sanction this enormous sum as grant. The grant was sanctioned by the Tourism Department at the time, reportedly under pressure from the Cultural Affairs Department. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation was formed on August 4, 2010, as a private trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. The trust has renowned artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyaz Komu as its president and secretary respectively, while Sunil V and Bony Thomas are its joint secretary and treasurer respectively.