The four-month-old Left Democratic Front government in Kerala is at the center of a political storm. A series of irregular appointments across departments have roiled the coalition that rode to power on a wave of popular discontentment against the previous government. Jayachandran Ilankath, V R Prathap and Jithin Jose bring you more stories of nepotism at high places.
Public sector miner’s new GM is well-qualified - she is the minister’s niece
Industries minister E.P. Jayarajan’s recent visit to a laterite mine at Karinthalam in Kasaragod district raised quite a few eyebrows. The minister has been trying to steamroll popular opposition to mining against the wishes of the local unit of the CPM. And now, he has appointed his close relative as the general manager of the Kerala Clays and Ceramics Product Limited, the public sector undertaking entrusted with mining.
Jayarajan’s own comrades are skeptical about his intentions. Some of them connect the dots between his interests in restarting mining and the appointment of his niece at the helm of the Pappinissery-based PSU.
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E.P. Jayarajan was accused of nepotism in the appointment of his relative Deepthi Nishad.Why was the previous general manager eased out in favor of a Bengaluru-based professional who had no experience in the metals or mining industry at a time when the PSU was facing stiff opposition from the local people. Deepti Nishad, the wife of Jayarajan’s nephew, did not even attend an interview for the post. The M Com graduate was appointed with a monthly salary of about Rs 40,000. (However, she resigned on Wednesday after pressure mounted on LDF government over nepotism row.)
Why was the party not consulted. The local leaders say they were not aware of the appointment. Deepti’s father-in-law, Jayarajan’s brother, is not even a party sympathizer, they say. CPM’s Morazha local committee raised the issue with the district leadership, but nothing came of it.
CPM leaders’ peeve is two-pronged. What was the reason for a change of guard at this hour of crisis? Why was Balakrishnan Anakkayi shifted out? And why the choice of a greenhorn who does not have any apparent connection with the party?
The Kerala Clays and Ceramics Products has five units in Kannur and Kasaragod districts. However, the company has been sustaining on the China Clay Factory at Madayi and the aluminum laterite mine at Karinthalam. Both the units have been shut for more than a year due to protests from the local people and environmental activists. The company that had been contributing to the exchequer for years was in the red in just one year.
Was it reason enough to sack Balakrishnan Anakkayi, who was also a party sympathizer? Jayarajan and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had not bothered to answer the queries from within the party.
Mining secrets
The Kerala Clays and Ceramics Products Limited had been mining aluminum laterite from a 50 acre rocky terrain in Kinanoor-Karinthalam panchayat. Originally, the raw material for cement production was exclusively contracted to Malabar Cements. Problems started when the company grew ambitious and decided to expand the mining area to supply aluminum laterite to companies outside the state. When the people hit the warpath, the local panchayat run by the CPM stood by them.
The mine was closed down in July 2015 after its operations were found to be detrimental to the environment.
The mine opened a battlefront within the CPM when its trade union CITU demanded that the unit which employed 45 workers resume operations.
Enter Jayarajan. The minister went to Karinthalam and spoke to the trade union leaders and the people who had forced the closure of the unit. Jayarajan wanted the mine to restart at any cost, but the people and environmental activists stood their ground. Jayarajan offered to start a dairy farm with 100 cows as a trade-off for limited production from the mine. He was not very convincing though.
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The government’s enthusiasm to restart the mine is seen by many as a veiled attempt to sneak in a Maharashtra-based miner eyeing the bauxite deposit in the nearby Kadaladippara. A laterite mine in the public sector in Karinthalam will naturally build the case for a bauxite mine at Kadaladippara. The environmental activists and people in the area who have put up stiff resistance against the bauxite mining are wary of the back-room maneuvering to undermine their cause.
The agitation at Kadaladippara had forced the then industries minister P K Kunhalikkutty to announce in the Legislative Assembly that the government had no plans to allow bauxite mining in the area. But Jayarajan seems to have other ideas.
Shift in pattern
The CPM’s latest document on course correction was pretty self-damning. The document warned that the party would not be recognized as a communist party if it continues in its current course. Another document approved at the party plenum held in Palakkad listed out the dos and don’ts for the party leaders. Both the guidelines were reflections of previous party line.
Jayarajan also attended the plenum. As a minister, however, he does not care two hoots about the warnings, judging by his track record in the last four months.
(To be continued…)
Read rule by kinship series part-II: Windfall for kin as CPM leaders dump party guidelines
Read rule by kinship series part-IV: A press note which landed Jayarajan in the soup
