CPM veteran and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan (file photo)If V. S. Achuthanandan agrees to take up the post of chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission with Cabinet rank, it would only help create a strong negative image about him in the collective psyche as a man who ran after positions during his eight decades of public life.
There were rumors that he contested assembly elections after being assured of the chief minister's post. Yet, nobody perceived the nonagenarian leader as one who craved for power. But the situation is different now.
If he accepts the chairman post of the proposed fourth Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission after being overlooked by the CPM leadership for the chief minister's post, it can only be viewed as a desperate effort to hanker after power.
Put simply, Achuthanandan is not an expert in the field of administrative reforms. The first Administrative Reforms Commission in the State was established in 1957 under the supervision of chief minister E.M.S. Namboodiripad, who was known to be a visionary and scholar extraordinaire in administrative reforms and decentralized governance.
But Achuthanandan’s elevation to the coveted post is just another avenue to satisfy his craving for power and to quell the fresh bout of factionalism in the party.
What is perhaps the most bewildering is the party leadership, which once described him as having an ‘anti-party mindset’ and somebody who provides fodder to the opposition UDF, whenever the latter is in crisis, appointing him as the chairman of a key panel.
After being offered the cabinet post, Achuthanandan seems to have lost his combative instincts.
At the age of 93, his wings are clipped to tie him down to the cabinet post. When the Bill designed to facilitate Achuthanandan’s appointment was introduced in the Assembly, the Opposition MLAs repeatedly taunted him, but he was seen sitting quietly without reacting to the insults hurled at him.
If he takes up this post, it will be the end of the eight-decade-long eventful political career of a tireless fighter and corrective force within the party.
As a party, the CPM has been historically and consistently different from other parties when it comes to reform strategies as well as decentralization and participatory governance. The most striking impact of these policies was witnessed by Kerala in 1957, 1990 and 1997.
The party advocates decentralization as a means to strengthen the democratic fabric through participatory governance.
When the People’s Planning campaign was launched in 1997, a committee headed by S. B. Sen was assigned the task of ensuring that, besides devolution of powers, decentralization of funds to the civic bodies also was taken care of.
At the same time, the party laid emphasis on greater decentralization of powers from the Secretariat to the lower-tiers of the administrative set-up for effective governance.
The dozens of reports submitted by different reform commissions over the years, however, are gathering dust in some dark corner of the Secretariat. That is why the party’s latest move to constitute another reform commission and appoint a 93-year-old as its chairman just to end factional feud comes as a surprise.
Importantly, such a reconciliation step would create an enormous burden on the exchequer. The government will have to provide him official residence, car, and as many as 22 personal staff apart from facilities equivalent to the salary and privileges that members of the cabinet are entitled to. Besides, he will be entitled to receive reimbursement of travelling/boarding expenses and remuneration on par with the ministers. It will cost the exchequer at least Rs 2 crore annually.
As there will be two more members in the proposed commission, the government will have to spend around Rs 4.5 crore annually.
The government is staring at a massive spending of over Rs 200 crore in the next five years for providing 'accommodation' to a senior party leader.
When the State is reeling under a serious resource crunch, the government is gearing up to splurge taxpayers' money on unnecessary things instead of making efforts to improve the living condition of its citizens. That kind of splurge in time of penury is nothing but a grave sin.
(The author was additional private secretary to V. S. Achuthanandan when the latter was chief minister and leader of opposition)
