Amid the acute financial crunch in the state, a slew of spending by the Left Front government in Kerala has raised many eyebrows.
The latest in the row is a move to give a nearly one-year retrospective effect to the salary hike to Kerala State Youth Commission chairperson Chintha Jerome, a young CPI(M) woman leader.
A cattle shed at the chief minister's official residence costing Rs 40 lakh, setting up of an elevator at the CM's residence for Rs 25 lakh, and a new vehicle costing around Rs 30 lakh for the CM had recently come under fire.
A recent reply to an RTI query by a Congress leader revealed that around Rs 30 lakh was spent on maintaining the swimming pool at the CM's residence since 2016.
Recently, state Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the state was in an acute financial crunch, and state chief secretary V P Joy reportedly directed all departments to tighten belts.
Close on the heels of this grim fiscal scenario, the move to give retrospective effect to the salary hike of the Youth Commission chairperson came out. It was alleged that though the officials concerned turned down the commission's request, there is pressure on officials to clear it.
Jerome took over as the commission chairperson in 2016, when the remuneration was Rs 50,000. In 2018 when the commission statutes were finalised, the chairperson's salary was raised to Rs 1 lakh. Chintha is now claiming about one year's retrospective effect for the pay hike, which comes to around Rs 6 lakh.
Congress leader R V Rajesh, who preceded Jerome as the commission chairperson, had approached the court claiming salary arrears and got an order in his favour. The CPI(M) camps are citing this as a justification for Jerome's claim.
Published 06 January 2023, 14:44 IST