THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The two suspended officials who came under the wrath of home minister Ramesh Chennithala are likely to be reinstated.
Sources close to PWD minister V. K. Ebrahimkunju told DC that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was convinced of protocol violation taking place and the next step is to correct the action initiated by Mr Chennithala without ruffling his feathers.
With the ball now in the court of the home department, the next few days are going to be crucial for the two chief engineers, T. K. Satheesh of public works department and V. K. Mahanudevan of Kerala Water Authority.
Government sources told DC that Mr Chennithala addressed a hurriedly called press meet in New Delhi on Saturday as per the directives of the CM.
At the press conference, he had maintained that he took the initiative to suspend the officials as per the recommendations he received from Vigilance & Anti Corruption Bureau director Vinson M. Paul, involuntarily putting the blame on the officials.
“This is nothing but Mr Chennithala acting a ‘super CM’ and proclaiming that he will not tolerate corruption in any of the departments. CM is also being targeted in the attack whereas he is protecting his own image. But certain protocols have to be abided by when interfering in other departments’ internal affairs,” said a top PWD source under anonymity.
It is reliably known that home department would seek more legal advice from experts on how they can solve the issue without causing much embarrassment.
Meanwhile, the ‘A’ camp leaders are peeved at Chennithala handling the matter irresponsibly.
Though PWD and water resources ministers, V. K. Ebrahimkunju and P. J. Joseph respectively, had planned to take up the issue in the last cabinet, it could not be taken due to lack of time.
The two suspended officials had given separate letters to their respective ministers requesting them to be reinstated.
Accordingly, the department heads had cited various reasons on why their suspension should be cancelled which was forwarded to the CM. This is now with the home department.
