Former Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan – whom the southern state’s Communist government made the chair of its administrative reforms commission (ARC) – has moved into a government bungalow but expressed displeasure at being denied an office in the state secretariat, the seat of power.
“The commission would be able to function effectively only from the secretariat (where the offices of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, all his cabinet colleagues and top bureaucrats are),” he told reporters after shifting to the Kowdiar House yesterday with his wife Vasumathy and son Arun Kumar.
The veteran communist – who will celebrate his 93rd birthday next month – was the most sought after campaigner of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) during the May elections. His Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leads the LDF in Kerala.
After the party chose Vijayan as its chief ministerial candidate, much to the chagrin of the nonagenarian, it tried to pacify him by promising him a respectable position in an advisory role with all the paraphernalia of a minister.
CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, while announcing the choice of Vijayan, even called Achuthanandan as ‘Kerala’s Fidel Castro’.
The new dispensation, however, decided to appoint Achuthanandan as ARC chief after a delay of almost three months and then again went slow on getting him an office, bungalow and freedom to appoint his staff.
Though Achuthanandan has been given an official residence, he said there was still some confusion over the office location. The government had allotted space for the commission in the Institute of Management in Governance (IMG) building which is 2kms from the secretariat.
Vijayan also snubbed Achuthanandan’s demand to take some of his close confidants like V K Sasidharan on his personal staff.
Last week, Achuthanandan wrote a letter to the chief secretary expressing his displeasure over alleged indifference on the part of the government. He complained that the government was not prepared for any interaction on the choice of office and official residence.
On Monday, two women employees came to his rented home and passed on the information that the ARC office would be located at IMG, disregarding an earlier understanding that it would be at the new block of the secretariat which has enough space.
Achuthanandan has been kept in the dark about the role of the ARC in the government since his appointment on August 3, and there has been no proper communication, people close to him claim. This apparently was meant to humiliate him, they added.
The only living founder leader of the CPI-M will also get a car besides 14 staff, who will draw a lifelong pension after the ARC’s term.
The ARC also has two former bureaucrats who retired as chief secretaries as members. The will also get staff and a salary of the chief secretary scale.
The opposition had objected to Achuthanandan’s appointment stating it would make the exchequer poorer by Rs2bn. The newly set-up body is supposed to advise the government on improving administrative efficiency.
The government had introduced the Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualifications) Amendment Bill in the state Assembly last month to ensure that an elected legislator does not attract any disqualification even if he takes charge of such a post.