The Muslim Youth League (MYL), which is spearheading an agitation seeking the ouster of Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel on the charge of nepotism, has fired a fresh salvo alleging his direct involvement in changing the eligibility criteria to suit the post for his relative.
At a news conference here on Wednesday, MYL State general secretary P.K. Firos displayed a document purportedly signed by the Minister asking the General Administration Department (Minority Welfare) to modify the educational qualification prescribed for the post. He wanted the criteria “graduate with MBA preferably with specialisation in marketing and finance or CS/CA/ICWAI with three years experience” to be revised to “graduate with MBA preferably with specialisation in marketing and finance or HR/CS/CA/ICWAI/B.Tech. with PGDBA with three years experience.”
The allegation pertained to the appointment of the Minister’s cousin K.T. Adeeb to the post of general manager of the Kerala State Minority Development Finance Corporation (KSMDFC). The appointee had been holding the post of manager of South Indian Bank. However, he was ineligible for the post as per the State government notification on June 29, 2013. Following the controversy, Mr. Adeeb had resigned from the post.
Mr. Firos also produced another document by Social Justice Secretary A. Shajahan recommending that the file of the Minister should be cleared by the Chief Minister as the creation of the post and fixing of eligibility criteria were based on a Cabinet decision. But the Minister argued that since only an additional qualification had been added, an endorsement by the Cabinet was not required. Later Mr. Jaleel had got the file ratified by the Chief Minister, Mr. Firos alleged.
The MYL leader, who said that his organisation would intensify its protest till Mr. Jaleel was removed from the Cabinet, sought an explanation from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan whether he was aware of the developments. He also demanded the Chief Minister to sack Mr. Jaleel and order an inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
