Kerala Governor decries lifelong pension for personal staff of Ministers; 'Mockery of law'

Escalating his tussle with the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan decried the entitlement of the personal staff of Ministers to lifelong pension. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, he stressed that this money belonged to the people of Kerala. While conceding that he does not have the power to stop this practice, Khan resolved to raise this issue at the national level. Claiming that only CPI(M) workers benefit from this pension entitlement, he contended that the Kerala government is run in a manner i.e "by the cadre, for the cadre and of the cadre". 

Arif Mohammed Khan remarked, "With equal vigour, I am now going to take up the issue where the staff of the Minister becomes entitled to lifetime pension in two years. This is a total mockery of the law. This is absolutely atrocious. The young boys and girls of Kerala go to various states and foreign countries looking for jobs and here, the public money is being squandered. What is the special distinction between these people who are basically party cadre and they become entitled to a lifetime pension? How much time does it take for you to become entitled to a lifetime pension?"

"As a Central Minister, I had the right to appoint only 6 or 7 persons. Here, every Minister would be burdened with so much work that they appoint 25 people and after two years, they ask them to resign. This is nothing but total fraud and deceit which is being played on the people of Kerala. I know I cannot order this should be stopped. But now you will see very soon a situation where it will become an issue all over the country," he added. 

Weighing in on his options, the Kerala Governor revealed, "I will make it a big issue at the national level. If the man who puts his life on the line and lives in -41 degree temperature- members of our Armed Forces become entitled to pension after a minimum time of 10 years. And here, these johnnies are working for the party all the time. They are being paid salary in the form of pension. This is nothing but a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, the spirit of the law. It is highly discriminatory and disgraceful what they are doing. It will be my priority to put an end to this. This money belongs to the people of Kerala and not the cadre."

Row over lifelong pension

Reportedly, the personal staff of Ministers and the Chief Minister in Kerala became entitled to a pension via a Cabinet decision from April 1984 onwards. Each Minister is permitted to appoint 25 members in this capacity. Even though the term of the government is 5 years, the staff member is entitled to a lifelong pension after completing just two years of service. Concerns have been raised that owing to this provision, party members and loyalists are often picked as personal staff members and replaced after two years so that more cadres can benefit.