THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even political leaders make a beeline for devaswom boards with an apparent eye on the right to run its properties, senior IAS officer B Ashok opined on Thursday. The agriculture production commissioner, who recently challenged the appointment of former chief secretary K Jayakumar as Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president, made the remark during a debate organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Journalism College based on the book Beyond Cynicism Kerala 2.0-Insights from Insiders.
Ashok said when managing properties worth crores is limited to just three individuals, there is bound to be corruption charges. Devaswom assets can be protected only by bringing in a change to this system, he said. Emphasising on the book’s relevance, given Kerala’s critical administrative and financial challenges, he posed a pertinent question: “Is Kerala broke?”
Ashok outlined the state’s three available options: borrow more, raise taxes or cut government spending. Pointing to the need to go in for legislative reforms, he observed that several existing laws are no longer relevant today. Retired IAS officer T Balakrishnan, co-author, pointed out that even while the administrative leadership wants to prevent corruption, numerous legislations have inherent loopholes that can be misused. He said the book’s purpose was not to find fault but to elicit meaningful reflection. Retired IAS officer S Sreenivasan, S Adikesavan and Prasad Narayanan also spoke.
The book, edited by retired additional chief secretaries P H Kurien and T Balakrishnan, is a compilation of articles penned by 21 people, including 15 senior civil service officials.