Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has lashed out at the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that no one in government has the authority to control Raj Bhavan i.e. the governor and it is his duty to ensure that their business is conducted in accordance with the Constitution.
Khan was very critical of the Left government for dolling out pension benefits to the personal staff of ministers just after completing two years of service a few months ago was a “gross violation and abuse of authority’ and ‘misuse and abuse of money of people of Kerala,”.
The outspoken Kerala governor has now asked the LDF government to end this practice and make it part of the policy address as it is his constitutional duty to advise the government and he was going to pursue the pension matter and not going to leave it there.
“I am here not to run the administration. I am here to ensure that the business of the government is conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and constitutional morality,” he told reporters here.
As a former Union Minister, Khan said that he could appoint only 11 persons in his personal staff, however, in Kerala, every minister has more than 20 personal staff, which is an unnecessary financial burden to the state exchequer and in other states in India these staff, who are appointed on a co-terminus basis, eligible to receive pension.
He was categorical when and called this pension for staff as alleged party recruitment in the name of appointment of the personal staff who are political workers working for the party for two years and being financed by the state exchequer.
On the recent shifting of senior bureaucrat K R Jyothilal as principal secretary, General Administration Department (GAD) by the government yielding to the Governor’s pressure, Khan said, “Yes… I cannot accept the position when anybody from the Kerala government tries to control the Raj Bhavan indirectly by imposing their choice on me… by deputing staff of their choice in Raj Bhavan. This I can not accept,”.
Khan was also refused to sign the policy document of the CPI(M)-led LDF government, and expressed strong displeasure over a letter written by it against the appointment of a senior journalist-turned politician in a key post in the Raj Bhavan and the under-pressure LDF government had to yield to the Governor’s pressure and replaced Jyothilal.
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