THIRUVANNATHAPURAM: IT secretary M Sivasankar IAS has said that it was he who had signed the Sprinklr-related purchase order and he takes the entire responsibility for it.

He also agreed that he had not taken legal advice from the law department before signing the agreement.

“I went ahead with the contract at my own risk. I have the discretionary power to do this. I signed it because the service was offered totally free and I had no doubt about the security of the data,” he said during a face-to-face programme on a private TV channel on Saturday.

Sivasankar said the government had faced big problems in data management even during the times of the floods. An attempt was made to resolve the issue with the help of IT expert groups from the country.

“But, the government has no doubt about the data management expertise of Sprinklr company. The terms and conditions of the American company Sprinklr, which is managing data, are pre-determined. The beneficiaries of its service won’t be able change that, he added.