'Saas-bahu' puts govt in a spot
As reported by Ananthakrishnan G,
TNN, 4 May 2008
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This 'saas-bahu' saga is for real and has put Kerala’s Left government in a spot, inviting charges of promoting nepotism and also raising questions about CPM’s stand on ethics in public life.
At the centre of the storm is Kerala health minister P K Sreemathi, who has inducted her daughter-in-law Dhanya M Nair into her personal staff. This was revealed by the general administration department on an
RTI query seeking details of Sreemathi’s personal staff.
The request was filed by AIADMK state secretary Sreenivasan Venugopal.
In reply, Venugopal got a list of 22 names including Dhanya, who is married to Sreemathi’s son. She had joined the staff as a clerk and was only recently promoted to the post of additional personal assistant. Her salary works out to around Rs 17,000. Dhanya would also be eligible for pension once she completes 2 years in her post.
Venugopal pointed out that Dhanya was not even in the office of personal staff but was conveniently placed in the minister’s bungalow.
Taunting CPM leaders, who a week ago had surprised industry captains by coming down harshly on ‘nokukooli’ — a term for money demanded by labourers attached to the party’s trade union without doing any work, Venugopal wondered if the present controversy did not convey a similar situation.
Sreemathi’s office has, however, defended the appointment and denied any impropriety. "Twenty-seven people can be appointed in the minister’s personal staff — 24 in office and 3 in the house. Unlike the office, those at home need to be more reliable and that is why Dhanya was chosen. In the past too, ministers have done this and there was no impropriety," said the official statement from her office, which also said that this was a "needless controversy".
LDF convener Vaikom Viswan of the CPM also saw no impropriety in it.
But the opposition Congress disagrees. "There is no practice of appointing family members in the personal staff of ministers. It raises questions of ethics and morality in public life. The minister should accept her mistake and take corrective measures instead of defending it," state Congress spokesperson M M Hassan said.
'Saas-bahu' puts govt in a spot-India-The Times of India