Loot by another name Ministers should have public, not personal, staff A.J. Philip Early last week, a ruling alliance legislator in Kerala, KB Ganesh Kumar, startled the state assembly when he named three members of the personal staff of Public Works Department (PWD) Minister VK Ibrahim Kunju of corruption. He specifically mentioned that they demanded $100,000 for the transfer and posting of an executive engineer in the department. Kumar is a disgruntled member of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), having lost his ministership following reports of an extramarital affair and domestic violence. It is indeed doubtful if he would have made the allegation if he were also a minister in the Oommen Chandy government. The minister concerned, who belongs to the Indian Union Muslim League, has stoutly defended his staff and dismissed the allegation as baseless. While only an impartial inquiry will reveal the truth of Kumar’s allegation, what is noteworthy is that the members of personal staff of ministers are increasingly facing charges of corruption and nepotism. If anything, this necessitates a re-look at the practice of ministers being allowed to appoint personal staff. In Kerala, every minister, including the chief whip who does not have any administrative powers, is entitled to appoint up to 30 people in his secretariat in varying pay-scales ranging from $200 to $1,400. The rules regarding their qualifications are so lax that many of them are just matriculates. Incidentally, Kerala has the highest rate of unemployment among graduates and postgraduates. Their jobs are “co-terminus”, which means they cease to be government employees once minister they are attached to demits office. In most cases, the persons appointed as personal staff are members of the minister’s party or his distant relatives. In the infamous solar scam, involving a gangster’s mole, one of Oommen Chandy’s close confidantes had to resign, while another has been facing serious charges of forcible grabbing of private land. It was found that the chief minister did not use a mobile phone, though he answered calls routed through his gunman and other personal staff. Though the personal staff are ostensibly to facilitate the minister’s work, it is well-known that their primary job is to please the ministers’ constituents, even if it meant going out of the way. For many in the personal staff, the best attraction of the job is not so much the salary as the pension they are entitled to get. In government service, an employee has to work for a minimum of 20 years to become eligible for pension. In the case of the personal staff, they need to serve only for three years to get full pension. What’s more, there are conditions under which even this three-year period can be reduced. Theoretically, a 20-year-old person, who joins a minister’s personal secretariat as a personal assistant, works for a little over two years and quits, is entitled to pension until his death. Incidentally, Kerala has the highest life expectancy at 74, against the all-India average of 63.5, according to the Human Development Index 2011, published by the UNDP. Tens of thousands of dollars are wasted in this manner. All political parties in the state support this practice because Leader of the Opposition, who also enjoys minister’s rank, can also employ 30 people in his secretariat. Ministers also encourage their staff to put in their papers once they become eligible for pension, so that they can appoint another set of would-be pensioners. This is nothing short of a mufti-million racket and a fraud on the constitution. Ministers can requisition the services of regular government staff, who are more qualified and also know the procedures in the government better than the greenhorns they appoint. The system of personal staff exists in other states and in the federal government too. In the case of federal ministers, they can appoint a maximum of only 15 people, that is, half the number a Kerala minister can employ, without pension facilities. In Kerala, they are also entitled to periodic increases in dearness allowances and other perks. This is tantamount to looting the government, done in the name of improving the ministers’ efficiency. Courtesy: OMAN TRIBUNE omantribune
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 11:17:41 +0000
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