Bribery Charges Levelled Against Kerala Health Minister’s Personal Staff
After allegations of bribery were levelled against a personal staff of Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the opposition Congress demanded a probe into the matter.
George’s personal staff member Akhil Mathew was accused of taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh for offering a job at Ayush Kendra.
After the matter came to light, senior Kerala Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala accused that the inaction by the health minister despite receiving a complaint from the victim is uncalled for.
“Veena George defended the staff after receiving a complaint against the accused personal staff and did not inform the police. The first thing the minister did after receiving the complaint was to make it very murky,” he stated and alleged that the inaction was to protect the corrupt members in her office.
“The minister was quick to pass the complaint filed by the alleged accused in the case to the police. This looks like an attempt to whitewash the alleged wrongdoing,” he stated on Friday.
Stating that the police are under immense pressure, Chennithala added, “The whole case is shrouded in mystery and it is clear that the police investigation will be a farce. With the complainant releasing more evidence, the minister’s office is under more pressure. A high-level investigation is needed to bring out the facts,” he stated.
Adding that there are several cases that show that the Left government is mired in corruption, he stressed that the minister should have suspended her personal staff pending the completion of the investigation.
BJP national spokesperson takes a dig at INDI alliance
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a jibe at the INDI alliance over the matter.
In a post on X, he questioned the reason for the delay in handing over the complaint to the police. “Though the complainant had sent the complaint to the minister’s office via email on September 4 and through a registered post on September 13, it was handed over to the police only after 10 days,” the post read.
He further questioned as to how the Congress can call the corruption “shocking” and still continue to be a part of the INDI alliance.
“Now, even their own INDI alliance partner – the Congress – has termed this case as ‘shocking’. Terming the bribery charges against the health minister’s personal staff as ‘serious’, the opposition Congress said corruption was thriving in all government departments in the state. How Congress is justifying a national alliance with a party it terms corrupt in Kerala is amusing,” he wrote.
The allegation
Haridasan, a resident of Malappuram district on Wednesday, alleged that a personal staff member of the minister accepted Rs 1 lakh as bribe for the appointment of his daughter-in-law as a government medical officer.
On September 27, Haridasan, a native of Malappuram, alleged that a personal staff member of George accepted Rs 1 lakh as bribe and promised a government medical officer job for his daughter-in-law.
He also said that Akhil Sajeev, the former district office secretary of Pathanamthitta CITU, was an intermediary in the incident and received Rs 75,000. Haridasan went public on Wednesday after learning he was duped.
Health minister filed counter-complaint
Responding to the allegations, George said that her office had received the complaint from Haridasan on September 13 and the matter was informed to the chief minister on September 20. After her staff denied such allegations, she asked her private secretary to file a counter-complaint.
“On September 23, I asked my private secretary to register a complaint on behalf of my office and also file a separate complaint as his name had surfaced,” George said.
