Thiruvananthapuram: Ministers and government officials from Kerala continued to visit the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram even after the state Administrative Reforms Department issued an order in 2019 prohibiting top authorities and government representatives from having any interaction with embassies directly.
In the wake of an increase in such dealings, the then Secretary for Personnel and Administration Reforms Department K Gopalakrishna Bhat had issued the order on November 20, 2019, banning officials from contacting embassies.
It said the circular was issued after it came to the government’s attention that senior officials were directly dealing with embassies, which was against law.
Ministers and government representatives need the permission of the Ministry of External Affairs to attend official functions at the consulates of foreign countries. Representatives of foreign countries can also invite government representatives only with the ministry’s permission.
Meanwhile, an investigation is underway into the parcels that had arrived at the UAE Consulate and were then delivered and distributed through CAPT (Centre for Advanced Printing and Training), which is under the Department of Higher Education.
