Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Arya Rajendran should step down as she has violated the oath of office, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said here on Saturday. Addressing a press conference in Paravur, Mr. Satheesan said a letter had gone out of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office to CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan to provide a priority list of people to be considered for temporary appointment to fill 295 vacancies of workers in the Corporation health department. By doing so, the Mayor had broken the articles of oath by which she assumed office. If the Mayor is not ready to quit, the party should remove her immediately, he said.
He alleged that the Pinarayi government had become a government by the party cell for party members and party leaders. Prior to the Mayor’s letter on vacancies in the corporation health department, a list of the party had been sought by the SAT Hospital to fill nine vacancies. This letter was written by D.R. Anil, corporation parliamentary party leader, to the party district secretary, Mr. Satheesan alleged.
The party was making appointments not only in local self-government bodies but also in public sector undertakings and government posts. It is because the CPI(M) State and local committees help make backdoor appointments that heads of various institutions and departments shy away from reporting vacancies to the Public Service Commission, Mr. Satheesan added.
At the same time, job seekers, who have passed PSC examinations with ranks, are approaching political leadership seeking to include vacancies in PSC lists. The party action in appointments has paved the way for those appointed through party intervention to be made regular employees after 10 years.
The CPI(M) action in making illegal appointments is the most flagrant example of favouritism in a State where there is serious unemployment. The drama is unfolding in Kerala while DYFI leaders stage protests in the nation’s capital calling for jobs for the youth, he said.
The CPI(M) is appointing relatives of party members and their friends to various positions and it is also cheating legitimate job seekers. He claimed there was a mafia-like group operating out of CPI(M) offices and that hundreds of cases are to be brought out before the public. The wife of the first accused in Periya murder case was allotted the first rank to positions at the Kasargod district hospital, Mr. Satheesan claimed.
Neither Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan nor the party secretary is aware who took a decision on raising the retirement age of PSU employees to 60 years. The decision was frozen by the government. Though it was the Cabinet meeting that took the decision on the age of retirement of employees in PSUs, the government and the party leadership have claimed it was not part of the party policy. Action is needed against the minister who took the decision, he added.
He also claimed that this is the time when CPI(M) as a party is most heavily intervening in all aspects of the government. The police, including SPs and SHOs, are under party control. The party and the government, which are cheating the youth of the State, are hypocrites. The party also appoints “puppets” as vice chancellors of universities to allow the appointment of relatives and friends of party leaders to various teaching posts, Mr. Satheesan claimed.
