Kerala IAS officers to go on one-day mass leave

CASES AGAINST BUREAUCRATS

THE KERALA IAS Officers Association has asked its members to go on mass leave on Monday to protest against the recent vigilance cases against senior bureaucrats. This comes a day after Vigilance and Anticorruption Bureau (VACB) named IAS officer Paul Antony as an accused in an appointment scam and questioned another bureaucrat, Tom Jose, for allegedly amassing wealth. Several IAS officers, including additional chief secretary K M Abraham, are facing probe while Padmakumar was arrested in a graft case a few months back.

“We request our colleagues to take a casual leave on January 9 to express our sadness, frustration, professional dissatisfaction and to show our solidarity with our aggrieved colleagues, in allowing the present vigilance director (Jacob Thomas) to continue abusing his powers,’’ the association said in a note. “The association members met in the wake of disturbing developments that affect the morale of civil service on account of the abuse of power on the part of the vigilance director.’’

The association criticised action against Antony for appointment of minister E P Jayarajan’s relative in a public sector undertaking. It said that Antony had implemented the minister’s written instruction. The association blamed the government for failing to act against Thomas, who “had caused a loss of Rs 35 crore to 50 crore during his term as the director of Ports’’. It accused Thomas of amassing wealth and teaching at private college without government sanction.

“We are deeply aggrieved and saddened that such an officer, whose integrity is prima facie doubtful and not beyond suspicion, is allowed to sit in judgement as vigilance director on the conduct of other civil servants.’’