Kerala CM’s daughter in research fund row

Amid the din in the CPI-M over SNC-Lavalin corruption case in which CBI has sought to arraign party State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan as an accused, a new controversy has broken out over the sanction of a research grant to CM VS Achuthanandan’s daughter.

Amid the din in the CPI-M over SNC-Lavalin corruption case in which CBI has sought to arraign party State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan as an accused, a new controversy has broken out over the sanction of a research grant to Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan’s daughter.

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The move of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) to sanction a Rs 35 lakh research grant to the CM’s daughter, VV Asha, a scientist with Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnolgy, has run into controversy with media reports stating that it involved irregularities and nepotism. Media reports said the fund had been approved by Kerala Biotechnology Mission, a wing of KSCSTE, headed by Achuthanandan in his capacity as CM. The project was not properly evaluated and the fund was approved to Asha only to please Achuthanandan, the reports said.

Meanwhile, rejecting the charges, Asha said the grant didn’t involved any irregularities since she was only a co-investigator in the project, on Marine Bio-Technology, which has three other scientists as team members.

“The grant is not meant for any individual. I am only part of it. IS Bright Singh, who heads the Marine Bio-Technology department in Cochin University is its head,” Asha said, adding that no amount had been sanctioned and the institute had not received any papers in this regard. “The controversy has been raked up just because I happen to be the CM’s daughter,” she added.