Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (KPCTA) has called for the resignation of Finance Minister K N Balagopal after the government defaulted on paying salaries to its employees and teachers. "This is the first time in the history of Kerala a government is failing to pay salaries and pensions to its employees," said R Arunkumar, president of Kerala Private College Teachers' Association.
In a statement, the state committee of KPCTA alleged that the government's financial mismanagement was the reason behind the freezing of salaries and pensions.
On February 21, Kerala chief of the ruling CPM M V Govindan gave a clear indication that the state government's coffers were empty. He asked how could the government release the dearness allowance (DA) of the employees when the disbursement of salary itself was doubtful. The state government has not released DA for the past 50 months, said Dr Arunkumar, an associate professor at Kumbalathu Sankupillai Memorial Devaswom Board College in Sasthamkotta.
On March 2, CPM State Secretary Govindan gave an anticipatory clear pass to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's government when he said the Union government would be solely responsible if the state government defaulted on paying salaries.
Salaries are always credited to the employees' account on the first or second of every month. This time, the Finance Minister said the employees could see their salaries credited against their names in the government Treasury but would not be able to withdraw them in one go.
"The fate of KSRTC employees awaits all government employees. The state will fall further into debt if the Finance Minister is not removed immediately. He has proved himself as a failure in managing state funds," said KPCTA. The government's insistence that it could pay salaries only by borrowing money underscores the severity of the financial crisis, it said.
The teachers' organisation, affiliated with the Congress, said there was no logic behind blaming the Union government for defaulting on paying salaries and pensions.
It said the state government failed to collect reimbursement of taxes from the Union government on time and failed to set up a mechanism to receive central funds.
As part of the 7th Salary Revision, the state government did not disburse the arrears of Rs 1,500 crore to college and university teachers, following which the Union government did not release its share of Rs 750 crore. "The state government lost Rs 750 crore and the teachers lost Rs 1,500 crore forever because of the ineptitude of the state government," said Dr Premachandran Keezhot, a state General Secretary of KPCTA and a faculty member of Payyanur College.
The Congress-affiliated organisation took a swipe at the teachers and teachers' organisations affiliated with the ruling parties for not hitting the streets demanding salaries. "Instead, they are wasting time eulogising SFI leaders exhibiting criminal behaviour," it said.
The KPCTA said the government should stop cocking a snook at the public by spending money from the public exchequer for giving cabinet rank and re-appointment to retired IAS officers, to go to the Supreme Court to defend those accused of murders and beneficiaries of favouritism, to beautify ministers' residence, and to fund trips to Delhi.
In the Kannur Vice-Chancellor case, the government spent Rs 60 lakh from the government exchequer and the Kannur University Fund, KPCTA said. Only when the case challenging the appointment of Priya Varghese as an associate professor at the Department of Malayalam is over, the public would know how much taxpayers' money was spent to defend the government's decision, the organisation said.
At a time when the common people are denied pension, the Chief Minister, his family, ministers, and IAS-IPS officers are living lavishly, KPCTA alleged.
