The Kerala government has failed in answering the questions of governor Mohammed Arif Khan on the educational qualifications of ministers’ personal staff.
Khan had earlier publicly opposed the payment of pension to ministers’ personal staff. However, before settling that dispute, Khan’s office sought details of the personal staff, including their strength and educational qualification from the Chief Secretary. Though the state government revealed the number of personal staff, it remained silent on their educational qualification.
The information provided by the Chief Secretary included the names of the personal staff of each minister, Opposition Leader and Chief Whip, along with the salary drawn by them and the orders related to their appointment.
Subsequently, Raj Bhavan – the Governor’s office-cum-residence – wrote to the Chief Secretary again demanding details of the academic record of the personal staff. However, the government is yet to respond.
According to officials at Raj Bhavan, the government was reluctant to reveal the details because many of the personal staff members lacked the required educational qualification.
Besides writing to the state government, the Governor had also communicated with the major political parties over the matter. Khan asked the parties to take suitable steps regarding the pension paid to personal staff as it was an additional burden on the state’s exchequer. But, no political party replied to the Governor’s letter. Curiously, even the BJP – which has no legislator in
Discussion about this post