THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel has called for verification of the telephone calls of Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala while he was in Delhi for his son’s UPSC examination.
“UPSC members are not angels and UPSC is not an institution that God runs,” he said. “It will be good if the call list is examined in detail to verify as to who all Chennithla called during his stay in Delhi,” he said.
It was M.M. Hassan who disclosed the reason behind Chennit-hala’s Delhi visit, he said. “At that time, there was a discussion on a new KPCC president. When reporters asked Hassan if Chennithala had gone to Delhi to discuss the organisational issues, the former KPCC president said he was in the national capital for his son’s civil service interview.
Jaleel denied that his intention was to bring the UPSC exams and IAS under a cloud by raising the allegations. “The concern being shown by a section of media to Chennithala’s son is missing in the case of Sri Hari, son of a grade III employee, who was given grace marks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena, who is also additional chief secretary, said the UPSC was above board. He was replying to a question by mediapersons on the allegations made by Jaleel. Though the CEO sought to steer clear of the controversy, he said, “if you look at the UPSC selection list, they will be from the lower income category. Nobody can influence it. People like me could make it to the civil service because of the credibility and impartiality of UPSC. Nobody can suspect its credibility,” he said.
“I don’t know on what grounds he (the minister) made the statement. But I don’t suspect anything wrong,” he added.
Chennithala refuted Jaleel’s allegations saying that the minister was trying to hide behind baseless charges and divert the attention from the grace marks controversy. It was his responsibility as father to be with his son during a crucial interview of his life, he said.
