THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government on Saturday suspended PWD secretary T. O. Sooraj for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The order suspending Mr Sooraj was signed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy after Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau director Winson M. Paul recommended to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala to take action against him.
Later, Mr Sooraj told reporters in Kochi that he was accepting the decision and added that he was not the only one to commit a sin.
“I have been a government official for 35 years and I know a lot of things.
At the appropriate time, I will reveal everything. There should not be a wrong perception that I am the only one who has done a wrong,” he said.
The PWD is now looking for a replacement for Mr Sooraj. One of the officials being considered is Mr A.P.M. Mohammed Haneesh who is managing director of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited.
He also holds additional charge of secretary of local self-government department-urban affairs as well as nodal officer of sports development projects in Kerala. He is the son-in-law of senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP, M. I. Shanavas.
A top PWD source told DC that there was a dearth of IAS officials in the state with the majority eyeing central deputation.
“We doubt whether we would get an IAS official exclusively for PWD as their number has come down,” the source said. When there is a requirement of 164 civil servants in the state, currently there are only fewer than 99 IAS officials.
