Kerala CM defends B. Ashok’s appointment as Principal Secretary of Higher Education dept
Rejecting allegations by Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders that the United Democratic Front (UDF) government is “aiding the saffronisation” of higher education in
Rejecting allegations by Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders that the United Democratic Front (UDF) government is “aiding the saffronisation” of higher education in Kerala by revoking the suspension of IAS officer B. Ashok and appointing him as the Principal Secretary, Higher Education department, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said appointments were not made after looking at the political background of officers in the IAS cadre. “He was facing disciplinary action and the suspension has now been revoked. We have only very few IAS officers available now in Kerala, as many have gone for Central services. Some are reluctant to return from Delhi after the compulsory service.
The government has been handing over additional charges to many of the officers,” he said. Regarding the appointment of a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) teachers’ union as the Vice-Chancellor in-charge of Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) and the nomination of several pro-Sangh Parivar persons as members to its Senate, Mr. Satheesan said Governor Rajendra Arlekar had been making such appointments even under the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. “Did the Governor suddenly start appointing people in the universities only after we came to power? So many people have been appointed in the Syndicates. We have also seen V-C appointments. So, this is not something new.
The panel for appointments to the Senate should have been given by the LDF government. We will examine these issues,” he said. On PM SHRI scheme Satheesan said the State government had not taken any decision yet on implementing the PM SHRI scheme. “The previous government had signed the agreement. We need to study the legal obligations of this before taking any decision. We opposed PM SHRI because the previous government which claimed that it would never agree to this scheme signed on the agreement in a surreptitious manner without even informing the Cabinet,” he said. After initially refusing to answer a question on his alleged travel in a chartered flight to meet an official of the Adani Group during the Assembly election, he said it was a personal meeting with an acquaintance who is related to a Congress leader.
When asked whether the State government would consider cutting fuel taxes considering the sharp increase in prices in recent weeks, he said “Let’s see”. Regarding reports that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said he had made allegations of a deal with the BJP against the LDF during the Assembly election campaign as per the inputs provided by Congress leaders from Kerala, Mr. Satheesan said he was “unaware of” such a development.
The BriefWire