THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The only job of a chief whip is to issue whip to the ruling front members when crucial proceedings which involve voting take place in the assembly. Yet, when Kanjirappally MLA and Kerala Congress (M) leader N Jayaraj was elected the chief whip in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government, he was granted a cabinet minister’s rank and an eight-member personal staff team.
Now, 17 more have been added to the team, taking the strength to 25, which is the maximum limit set by the ruling Left front for ministers. The salary of the chief whip’s personal staff will cost the exchequer around Rs 3 crore per annum.
The general administration department issued an order on Tuesday to appoint the 17 members on a co-terminus basis. The decision has been approved by the cabinet at a time when the state is forced to take loans to provide salary and pension for employees and when borrowing has already crossed the projected figure in the budget.
The new members of Jayaraj’s staff include Dr Relfi Paul, who is the private secretary, three additional private secretaries, two assistant private secretaries, two assistants, five clerks and four office attendants.
While two of them are on deputation from government service and one of them is re-employed post retirement, others are all direct recruits. Sources said many of the new recruits are nominees of Kerala Congress (M) leaders while some are CPM nominees.
The PS and additional PS will draw a monthly salary in the Rs 1,07,800-Rs 1,60,000 scale while assistant PS-ranked officials will draw a salary in the scale of Rs 63,700-Rs 1,23,700. Two assistants will draw a salary of Rs 37,400-Rs 79,000 and five clerks will draw a salary in the Rs 31,000-Rs 66,800 scale. In addition, all of them will be eligible for pension on completion of two years’ service.
Pinarayi agreed to KC(M) demand last month
Economist B A Prakash said the decision exposed how insensitive our politicians are to reality. “This is nothing but fiscal extravaganza. Politicians think their duty is to siphon off the state’s limited resources by dividing it among themselves.
Whether Communists or Capitalists are in power, things are no different,” the former state finance commission chairman told TNIE. A senior official said: “None of the personal staff members has any work to do. Half a dozen of them work in Kanjirappally and Kottayam, helping out the chief whip when he engages in some work in his constituency and carry out some of the work of his party.
Whenever the assembly is not in session, there is absolutely nothing for the chief whip and his staff to do.” Despite repeated attempts, Jayaraj was not available for comment. Sources in the LDF said KC(M) had been demanding more personal staff members for the chief whip for quite some time.
Pinarayi agreed to the demand last month, following which the process to appoint new members was initiated. It may be recalled that CPI’s K Rajan, who was the chief whip in the first Pinarayi government, maintained a personal staff of 10. P C George, who was the chief whip in the 2011 Oommen Chandy government, had appointed 30 personal staff members, which triggered a controversy.
Sports minister to travel to US for treatment
T’Puram: Sports Minister V Abdurahiman will travel to the US for treatment from January 5 to 18. The state cabinet approved Abdurahiman’s US travel, subject to clearance from the ministry of external affairs. The INL leader who represents Tanur will avail treatment at Johns Hopkins OP Centre in New York. The entire expenses for travel and treatment will be borne by the state government.