Kerala had achieved 100 percent literacy many years back and it has 45 lakh educated unemployed. But many aides of several Ministers in the Congress-led UDF Government have not even passed the SSlC (Class 10) examination.
As per the information provided by the Government to RTI activist DB Binu, one each of the additional personal assistants of Home Minister Thiruvanchaoor Radh
akrishnan and Cultural Affairs Minister KC Joseph (both belonging to Congress) have not passed the SSlC examination.
Two of the personal assistants and three office assistants of Urban Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhy Ali of the Muslim league are men who had failed to clear the SSlC examination. One of the personal assistants in the staff of Finance Minister KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) also had failed to earn this minimum academic qualification.
“Ministers and political leaders need not be having academic qualifications. What they need is knowledge of the aspirations of the people… and a vision to lead them. But it is a bit strange that many of those who are in the key positions to push the administrative machinery for the Ministers do not have the minimum qualification,” said a lawyer of the Kerala High Court.
A Minister can appoint as many as 30 men in his personal staff. Among them, those holding posts from private secretary to typist belong to the ‘A’ category drawing a gross monthly salary of about Rs 70,000. Those in posts like cook and attendant belong to Category B, and each of them draw a salary of around Rs 35,000.
When the number of people to be appointed in Category A under a Minister is limited as 17, Water Resources Minister PJ Joseph of the Kerala Congress (M) is said to have appointed 23 men in that category. The educational qualification of five of them is just SSlC which had become insufficient to get a normal clerk’s job long back.
Mani, Industries and IT Minister PK Kunhalikutty of the Muslim league and Tourism Minister KP Anil Kumar are the Ministers with highest number of better qualified men in personal staff. However, the qualification of four of A-Category members in Kunhalikutty’s staff is below Plus II.
Binu, a lawyer, had sought the information in the context of the allegations of misuse of the Chief Minister’s office in relation to the solar power scam by some of his personal aides. However, no information was available on the qualification of the members of the staff of several Ministers including the Chief Minister.