Pension scheme for ministers’ personal staff in Kerala won’t be changed: CPI(M)

Balakrishnan said these things are decided by the state government and not the Governor and added that it was not going to give into the latter on this issue.

The CPI(M) on Sunday said the practice of giving pension to the personal staff of ministers in Kerala, on completion of two years, has been going on since 1984 and it will not be stopped just because Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was against it.

CPI (M)’s state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the pension scheme for personal staff of ministers was launched in 1984 by the then ruling UDF and subsequent governments have continued with it. (HT Archives)

Speaking to reporters, party’s state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the pension scheme for personal staff of ministers was launched in 1984 by the then ruling UDF and subsequent governments have continued with it.

He said these things are decided by the state government and not the Governor and added that it was not going to give into the latter on this issue.

The Governor had termed the practice of giving pension to personal staff of ministers just after completing two years as a “gross violation and abuse of authority” and “misuse and abuse of money of people of Kerala”.

Balakrishnan said that the Governor can decide whom to appoint to his personal staff and the ministers will decide whom to have in their personal staff.

He also said that the Governor’s remarks that personal staff are changed every two years was based on incorrect facts.

Senior Congress leader and MP K Muraleedharan, earlier in the day, also spoke along similar lines while addressing the media.