Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the row over the alleged CPM bid to recruit political cronies in various civic jobs it has come to light that a kin of the Left Democratic Front parliamentary secretary in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation was appointed as a lift operator at the Medical College here violating norms.
The job beneficiary is D R Ramraj, the brother of D R Anil who is already under scrutiny over his recruitment bid for jobs in the SAT Hospital.
A few days ago SAT Hospital lay secretary Mridula Kumari was suspended after it was found she was appointed illegally.
Anil is the representative of the Minister for Health on the Medical College Development Committee. Though the ward councilor is an ex-officio member of the committee, Anil is occupying both the posts simultaneously. The charge against him is that illegal appointments are being made in the medical college and SAT Hospital by misusing his positions in the committee.
At first, Ramraj was appointed though Kudumbashree but he was dismissed after a flood of complaints were levelled against him, including by doctors, accusing him of being drunk on duty and creating a ruckus. But he was appointed as a lift operator after the controversy subsided.
Mridula's role
The lay secretary Mridula Kumari carried out illegal appointments by including her relatives in the recommendation list given by local CPM leaders. However, CPM leaders realised that some candidates who were not members of the party too had been appointed under the garb of party nominees.
The appointments were done by taking a month’s salary upfront from the nominees. They are also required to pay a day’s wages every month. If the payments of hush money stops, such persons are removed from employment on some pretext or other.
The appointments lobby is reportedly getting kickbacks from medical college doctors who carry out private practice too even while accepting non-practising allowance from the government.
It is alleged a leader of this clique had bought land in the area behind the office of the CPM-run TV channels. The party is investigating the matter, sources claimed.
Letter torn up, says Anil
Anil has said that he had torn up the letter written to the party district secretary, seeking names of party candidates for appointments to temporary posts in SAT Hospital.
In his statements to the Crime Branch and Vigilance, Anil said that the letter was prepared in his office just to gain publicity and that he did not know how it got leaked.
The statement says, “I prepared the letter in connection with appointing Kudumbashree workers to SAT Hospital. But, realizing that such a letter was not necessary, I tore it up”.
He also stated in his statement that he had not seen the letter purportedly written by the Mayor and that he had seen only the WhatsApp image of the letter.
