R Chandrasekharan quits, hits out at additional chief secretary

KOLLAM: Mr R. Chandrasekharan, who resigned as chairman of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation on Friday, lashed out at additional chief secretary K.M. Abraham saying that he is an enemy of the government and the public sector undertakings, who would burden the government with more liabilities. He also demanded a comprehensive Vigilance probe against a “desperate and stubborn” chief secretary.

He told reporters here that the government had not taken steps to solve the problems of the public sector companies and trade unions. “I had urged the Chief Minister to call a joint meeting of trade unions to discuss their issues, but no action has been taken yet,” he said. The KSCDC had suffered a loss of nearly Rs. 900 crore in the last ten years.

Mr. Chandrasekharan challenged Mr K.M. Abraham to run the corporation. “While he was the social welfare board secretary, the government fund was diverted. Where is the fund given for ASAP? To which all charitable societies has he given money?” he asked.

On Mr Kadakampally Manoj, who had filed the petition against the corruption at the corporation, Mr. Chandrasekharan said he was leading a shadow fight against him.

He maintained that the performance of Managing Director K.A. Ratheesh, against whom many government agencies had given critical reports and demanded his ousting, was a promising person.

He said the allegations against him were fabricated. The private companies that will benefit by the closure of the cashew corporation factories were also behind the charges. “There is no allegation against Capex because the petitioner had a relative in its director board,” he added.

Mr A. Fasaludeen Haque of AITUC and Mr K. Thulaseedharan of CITU also resigned from the director board membership following the Kerala High Court order for a CBI probe into the irregularities in the KSCDC.