RTI exposes telephone directive behind Cliff House contract

The renovation of the swimming pool at Cliff House, the Kerala Chief Minister’s official residence, was awarded to Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) in 2017 following a telephone instruction from the Chief Minister’s office, documents obtained under the Right to Information Act have revealed.

The disclosure concerns renovation and maintenance expenditure totalling ₹41.48 lakh during the first term of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, raising questions about administrative procedures, financial oversight and the circumstances surrounding the award of government contracts.

A November 2017 file maintained by the Tourism Directorate records that an additional private secretary to the then Chief Minister telephoned the Tourism Director, directing that renovation work valued at approximately ₹29 lakh be entrusted to ULCCS.

The work involved renovating the existing swimming pool, installing a roof and carrying out associated improvements. The assignments were reportedly issued within a week of each other, without competitive tendering.

The official file refers to the telephone communication but does not identify the additional private secretary who issued the instruction. Five officials held that designation in the Chief Minister’s office at the time, leaving the identity of the person concerned unclear.

The documents were obtained by M T Thomas, a resident of Mulakkulam South in Peruva, through an application under the Right to Information Act.

The disclosures distinguish the original renovation assignment from subsequent maintenance expenditure. While approximately ₹29 lakh was associated with the initial work, another ₹12.48 lakh was spent on maintaining the swimming pool between 2018 and 2021.

Together, these amounts brought expenditure during the first Vijayan administration to ₹41.48 lakh, according to the figures disclosed through the information request.

The central issue concerns whether the telephone instruction constituted sufficient administrative authority for awarding the work and whether the department followed applicable procedures governing contracts entrusted to accredited agencies.

ULCCS has undertaken numerous public infrastructure assignments in Kerala. However, its established position as a government contractor does not, by itself, resolve questions concerning the approval process followed for an individual project.

The available disclosures do not establish that the expenditure was fraudulent or that the renovation work was unnecessary. They nevertheless identify an unusual decision-making sequence requiring examination of the original approvals and contractual documentation.

The controversy also draws attention to the distinction between an official’s instruction to expedite work and the formal sanction required for committing public funds. The records described in the disclosure do not conclusively establish whether separate written approvals were obtained.

Earlier information released by the Tourism Directorate had placed expenditure on the swimming pool at ₹31.92 lakh by November 2022. That disclosure included renovation, roofing and maintenance expenses, although the accounting periods and classifications differed from those in the latest documents.

Further allocations were made subsequently. During April 2025, another ₹4.5 lakh was allocated for maintenance, with ULCCS identified as the agency responsible for the work.

The latest information request also provides details of other expenditure at Cliff House, including ₹39.74 lakh for installing a lift in 2023.

According to the disclosed figures, ₹3 lakh was spent constructing a cow dung pit, while electrical lighting for the cattle shed cost ₹3.68 lakh.

Electrical renovation undertaken between 2021 and 2026 accounted for another ₹25.48 lakh. Installation and maintenance of air-conditioning equipment involved expenditure of approximately ₹8 lakh.

These figures relate to different works and accounting periods and cannot automatically be treated as expenditure on the swimming pool itself.

The documents additionally refer to exterior painting undertaken ahead of a dinner hosted for the Sultan of Sharjah during his September 2017 visit.

That assignment, valued at ₹1.35 lakh, was also entrusted to ULCCS without competitive tendering, with urgency cited as the justification for proceeding.

The earlier renovation spending had attracted political criticism, particularly over the use of public funds for facilities attached to the Chief Minister’s residence.

Following the change of government in May 2026, Chief Minister V D Satheesan directed the General Administration Department to avoid expensive refurbishment of Cliff House and restrict work to necessary repairs.

The latest disclosures place the Tourism Directorate’s 2017 decisions under renewed scrutiny, particularly the telephone instruction recorded in its file.

The renovation concerned an existing swimming pool within the Cliff House compound in Thiruvananthapuram, rather than the construction of an entirely new facility.