Pension no way to reward party cadre
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has posed a pertinent question for the state's political class to answer. "Is it fair to finance cadre of political parties using public money?" he asked, questioning the practice followed by successive governments to deploy party cadre in large numbers in the personal staff of ministers.
Unlike the Centre and most states, in Kerala, such persons are appointed as permanent employees on a co-terminus basis so that they would be eligible for statutory pension.
While a Union Cabinet minister is entitled to a 15-member personal staff, the majority of who are on deputation from government service, in Kerala a minister can have double the number. The LDF regime has cut the personal staff strength of a minister to 25 while keeping it at 30 for the CM. In addition, the speaker, deputy speaker and chief whip can have 25 members as personal staff. Currently, there are about 400 such direct recruits in service - almost everyone is an active member of a party part of the ruling front. All of them draw handsome salaries too, ranging from Rs 23,000 to Rs 1,60,000.
The state exchequer shelled out Rs 170 crore in the last five years for paying salaries of personal staff. In 1994, the Congress-led government, with the wholehearted support of the opposition, introduced statutory pension for all such staff who complete three years of service, that too with retrospective effect from 1982. Later, the rules were amended to include the provision for family pension so that the spouse will get the money if the pensioner dies. The pension payout for personal staff has grown 100 per cent between 2013–14 and 2019–20. In 2013, a contributory pension scheme was introduced for government employees. Yet, personal staff of ministers whose only eligibility to be in service is their loyalty to their parties are still covered by statutory pension.
The Governor’s outburst has helped invite attention to an issue buried under the carpet by the collective conspiracy of political parties. With its coffers being empty and no schemes for additional revenue generation in sight, the government needs to be prudent in spending the money it has. Doing away with pensions for personal staff will be a right step in that direction.