Austerity: PC George adds 5 more staff

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst the austerity measures of the State Government, Government Chief Whip P.C.George has inducted five more officials as his personal staff, taking its size to 29.

The newly appointed include an additional private secretary with a pay scale of Rs 40,640 - Rs 57,440, a personal assistant, an additional personal assistant, an assistant and an office attendant.

The fresh appointments would incur an additional expense of around Rs 35 lakh per annum, sources at the Secretariat said.

In February, George had announced that he was reducing the size of his personal staff from 30 to 10 following reports of the burden on the State exchequer in maintaining 'jumbo personal staff'.

However, a member of George's personal staff confirmed that at present there were only 29 members in the Chief Whip’s personal assistant list. “Though we can appoint up to 30 personal staff, we only have 29 now,” said the official.

According to the fresh order of the General Administration Department on November 11, the five posts were created on a temporary basis with retrospective effect from August.

Those appointed were Shyju Nasimudeen of Vembayam in Thiruvananthapuram as additional private secretary with a pay scale of Rs 40,640 - Rs 57,440, Jishin V.V.of Puthenthopu in Thiruvananthapuram as personal assistant on a scale of Rs 18,740 - Rs 33,680, Shuhaib Shukoor of Erattupetta as additional personal assistant on Rs 18,740 - Rs 33,680, Biju Joseph of Pala as assistant on Rs 13,900- Rs 24,040 and P.S.M.Ramley of Erattupetta as officer attendant on a scale of Rs 8,500 - Rs 13,210.

The Chief Whip's office justified the appointments maintaining that steps in this regard had been initiated prior to the austerity measures of the Government. The jumbo personal staff of the Chief Whip had often come in for flak especially when he had no specific portfolios or departments to deal with on a regular basis.