THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lashing out at the state government, suspended IAS officer B Ashok alleged that a caucus of civil service officers had been working for the past six months to ensure that LDF government gets a third tenure, and that public funds and KIIFB loan amounts were spent to run a publicity campaign towards the same.
“IAS officers in Kerala have traditionally exercised their duties in a politically neutral manner. But unlike in the past, some serving officers led by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) chief K M Abraham have been working as a caucus to ensure that the current government gets a continued tenure,” Ashok told reporters in here on Thursday.
Ashok’s remarks came a day after he was placed under suspension for interacting with the media without government’s permission.
He raised serious legal concerns about KIIFB’s role, pointing out that there is no provision for the body to spend on government publicity or anything beyond infrastructure and ancillary uses.
Ashok takes a dig at Pinarayi’s chief principal secretary
“When unwanted political pressure acts on those in the civil service, public funds get diverted to run election campaigns. And those who do not cooperate will be hunted down, like this suspension,” he said.
On his suspension, Ashok said: “The order was issued by a government dismissed by the people on April 9. Let it be set aside. I am certain it will be repealed the day a new government takes charge.” He called it “one last round of firing” before the government’s exit against those it considers enemies, adding that he saw no need to challenge it legally as he is expected to be reinstated.
Ashok also noted that the suspension order failed to specify which remark or media interaction was deemed a violation. “I see this as an achievement, a badge I would place on my chest. This is an attempt to cover up the shameful defeats authorities suffered at the Central Administrative Tribunal multiple times,” he said.
Asked whether the action was a revenge move by the chief minister, Ashok said: “It is impossible for a person below the CM to take action against an officer at the rank of principal secretary, or at least not without his knowledge.”
In a scathing attack on K M Abraham, CM’s Chief Principal Secretary, Ashok alleged that he exerts powers beyond constitutional limits and issues instructions even to ministers and the chief secretary. “If anyone starts probing the deals done by Abraham when he was the KIIFB chief, I am sure he will get an imprisonment of at least 10 years,” he said.
Ashok said the IAS association would write to the incoming government to bar long-restored officers from active service positions.
