CM Oommen Chandy promises action on specific complaints

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday said the government would initiate action if it received specific complaints regarding corruption in Consumerfed.

At the Cabinet briefing, Mr Chandy said the government would not tolerate corruption in any department. “We will definitely look into specific complaints,” he added.

When his attention was drawn to the claim of Tomin J. Thachankary, who has been removed as managing director of Consumerfed, that he had submitted 22 complaints pertaining to Rs 100 crore, the chief minister said he had not come across any such complaint yet. He, however, admitted there were financial issues related to Consumerfed and payments of several customers were also due.

The chief minister refused to react on the confusion related to Thachankary’s removal as the decision was taken without his knowledge and even a press statement had also been issued to this effect. “There is no confusion now. That episode is over,” he remarked.

Earlier at the Cabinet meeting, home minister Ramesh Chennithala and cooperation minister C. N. Balakrishnan demanded Thachankary’s removal. The cooperation minister also demanded disciplinary action against the officer for publicly criticising him and the decisions of the department.

Sources said at the Cabinet meeting, chief minister Oommen Chandy pointed out that the officer replacing Thachankary as Consumerfed MD should be competent. The outgoing MD had initiated several steps in Consumerfed and it was the responsibility of Cooperation Minister to ensure that such measures continued without any break.

The chief minister was upset over the confusion related to Thachankary in the last Cabinet meeting. He categorically stated that such a situation should have been avoided in the first place. However, Chandy said if minister concerned sends a letter seeking removal of a particular officer in his department it would be accepted.