The state Cabinet on Wednesday made a decision to appoint former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan as the chairman of Administrative Reforms Commission ending the two-month long speculations about the veteran’s future.
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Ever since Achuthanandan’s name was doing the rounds for the administrative reforms panel’s post, questions were raised as to whether he would accept it.
He would head a three-member Commission with former Chief Secretaries C.P. Nair and Neela Gangadharan as its members, who would enjoy the status of Chief Secretary. As chairperson of the commission, V.S. Achuthanandan will get a cabinet rank.
A former chief minister himself, Achuthanandan, would not need to directly report to current incumbent Pinarayi Vijayan.
The decision to offer the position to the nonagenarian, who is also an MLA in the present Kerala Assembly, was finalised after an amendment to the Kerala Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualifications) Act.
” The 93-year-old Marxist veteran was ignored by the party for the chief minister’s post citing his advanced age and limitations”.
Achuthanandan was also upset at the silence of CPI-M legislators when the opposition members attacked him over his longing for the post.
Earlier, there was controversy over a purported note in which VS had allegedly demanded a plum post during the swearing-in ceremony of the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation, questioning Achuthanandan’s posting, is now pending before the High Court.
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The litigant argues that by appointing a person who has only studied till Class VII, the state government is following the spoils system for adequately compensating him for leading the campaign during the last elections on behalf of the ruling Left Democratic Front.
