Kerala Administrative Service at any cost, asserts CM Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday asserted that LDF Government will implement Kerala Administrative Service despite opposition from secretariat staff association. The chief minister’s declaration came on a day when the protest organised by staff organisations adversely affected the functioning of the secretariat. While the employees organisations claimed that the attendance was less than 30 per cent, sources in General Administration Department said 55 per cent staff were present on Thursday. They said even on a normal day the average attendance in Secretariat was 69 per cent.

Meanwhile, highlighting the importance of KAS the chief minister said international level training would be imparted to the employees. It will be aimed at making public delivery system effective and people friendly, he said. Pinarayi said a section of secretariat employees had reservations regarding KAS. “The government is on the side of employees. We will stand firmly with employees on their valid demands,” he said. He appealed to the staff associations to appreciate the government’s initiative to streamline the administration. Meanwhile, office work at the secretariat was seriously affected following boycott organised by Congress led association and leave taken by members of pro Left associations.

The Congress led association leaders threatened to intensify the agitation in the coming days. They said even the Left and BJP associations in Secretariat were on board though they were adopting different mode of agitation. Earlier, the Joint Action Committee of employees took out a protest march to the Secretariat against KAS. The leaders said the employees would oppose the move tooth and nail. They demanded that the proposal, special rules being framed by government on KAS should be subjected to scrutiny of V.S. Achuthanandan headed Administrative Reforms Commission.