CPM to convene meeting of personal staff of ministers

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM state secretariat has decided to convene a meeting of personal staff members of CPM ministers in the wake of recent allegations against the chief minister’s office and former secretary M Sivasankar. The meeting to be chaired by state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will be on Thursday, it is learnt.
According to sources, the invites were handed over to members of the personal staff of CPM ministers. Members of personal staff of ministers from other constituent parties of the LDF are also likely to attend the meeting. The CPM leadership has communicated about the meeting to leaderships of other parties as well so that the parties concerned will direct the personal staff to attend the meeting.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will also speak to personal staff members during the meeting.
The CPM secretariat that met here last week expressed serious reservations over the deterioration of professional standards in the office of several ministers. Though M Sivasankar is not a party nominee, the party was in receipt of reports about deviation from other officials. BJP state president K Surendran levelled allegations of corruption against C M Raveendran, senior official in the CMO and also a staunch CPM man.
Soon after taking over office in 2016, LDF government introduced a code of conduct for personal staff. The code of conduct had barred personal staff members from entertaining middlemen and lobbyists, and to refrain from making unnecessary recommendations in appointments and transfers.
The LDF state committee meeting has also been planned for next week. During a discussion held between state secretaries of CPM and CPI on Saturday, it was decided to convene the LDF meeting on July 28.
Meanwhile, in a letter to CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that Kerala government led by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has introduced a consultancy raj in the state. “Doesn’t this constitute a deviation from your party’s position on hiring international consultants under the influence of funding agencies that may be detrimental to the country’s and state’s interest?” he asked.
“International funding agencies such as World Bank are calling the shots, with the government carrying out their diktats. I regret to state that your silence on crucial issues related to the functioning of the LDF government is rather deafening,” he said in the letter.
The opposition leader also alleged that one of the main aims of the ‘consultancy raj’ is to carry out backdoor recruitment, a new extension of nepotism.