Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has said that the mass absenteeism planned by IAS officers on Monday will lead the State to a stage of paralysed governance. Such a move is unheard of in the history of independent India, he said at a press conference here on Sunday.
The IAS and IPS officers had petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, but the latter had been sleeping on their complaints. The Chief Minister was responsible for the current state of affairs in the administration. He pointed out that the Secretariat employees were also on a struggle, which was against the proposed State administrative services.
Disputes had arisen in the past too, but the issues were amicably settled then. As the Leader of the Opposition, he had raised the issue at a press conference a month ago, but the Chief Minister had ignored it.
The LDF had promised in its election manifesto to set everything right, but matters were getting worse. Mr. Vijayan had turned a blind eye to the accusations raised by IAS and IPS officers. A Chief Minister should not do so.
The IAS officers had raised a serious allegation that Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas was misusing the position to settle scores. It should be examined. The allegation had come up even when the Assembly was in session.
The charge against the Vigilance Director then was that Additional Chief Secretaries K.M. Abraham and Tom Jose were being framed in false cases. The latest accusation was that another Additional Chief Secretary Paul Antony was being dragged into the Vigilance net.
The allegations against Mr. Thomas include amassing of wealth disproportionate to his income and causing loss to the exchequer in the solar panel contract executed when he was the Director of Ports. As the Leader of Opposition, he was not sitting in judgement on the charges, but they need to be probed.
The inquiry conducted against Mr. Abraham failed to prove the charges. Then, how can the allegation that the Vigilance Director was settling scores be overlooked, he asked. Mr. Thomas had complained that the Finance Department was harassing him. The Chief Minister should reveal the action taken on the complaints, he said.
“Pinarayi Vijayan is the weakest Chief Minister that Kerala has ever seen. He doesn’t have control over even the officials under him,” Mr. Chennithala added.
