ICFOSS working runs into rough weather

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The functioning of International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), a prestigious project of the previous LDF Government, has run into rough weather following the allegations levelled against its governing council by Congress MLA P C Vishnunath.According to sources, the IT Department is planning a scrutiny of the activities of the ICFOSS, including the appointment of its director Satish Babu.Vishnunath, while speaking in the Assembly the other day, had alleged corruption and nepotism in the appointment of Satish Babu as the director of ICFOSS.“The appointment was ratified in a hurriedly convened meeting of the ICFOSS held on May 12, a day before the counting of Assembly polls,’’ alleged Vishnu.However, the allegation against ICFOSS has not been included in the draft terms of the Assembly committee inquiry into the appointment of VS’s son V A Arun Kumar as the director of ICT Academy.According to sources in the IT Department, the allegation about the appointment of ICFOSS director is baseless.“He was selected by a search committee comprising experts including Planning Board former vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik,’’ said Joseph C Mathew, former IT advisor to the CM.Along with Patnaik, IT Secretary Ajay Kumar, Free Software Foundation representative Arun M and C-DAC deputy director Sasi P M were members of the search committee.The need for a search committee arose as the first notification issued by the IT Department for a director didn’t yield the desired result.“There was only one applicant, Sasikumar of C-DAC, Mumbai, who had any serious relation with free software,’’ recalls Arun.The search committee then zeroed in on two other experts: Sathish Babu, co-founder of InApp, a leading Technopark company, and Venkitesh Hariharan, who was with RedHat.“The three were called for a discussion and Sasikumar and Venkitesh informed us that they can’t take up the responsibility,’’ said Arun.This was how the search committee finalised the name of Satish Babu, an active promoter of Open Source Technologies.