Thiruvananthapuram: As chief minister V D Satheesan and leader of opposition Pinarayi Vijayan trade charges over the size of ministerial personal staff, RTI records show that 726 people were appointed as personal staff during the five-year tenure of the second Pinarayi govt, with the cumulative number of appointments rising to 787 when 61 replacements following changes in the council of ministers are included.Satheesan alleged that 787 people were appointed as personal staff during the second Pinarayi govt while Vijayan has disputed the figure. Satheesan also said his govt had appointed only 476 people as personal staff.Even among these 726, however, all were not in service simultaneously. Personal staff members left their positions during govt’s five-year term and were replaced by others.Among individual appointments, Vijayan had 44 people appointed as personal staff during his tenure as chief minister. In addition, 12 people were appointed for social media-related responsibilities under the CM. The expenditure on these 12 positions was around Rs 84 lakh a year. One of the 44 personal staff members was M C Dathan, who served as scientific adviser without drawing a salary.The issue of ministerial personal staff has been politically contentious in the state, particularly because of the pension benefits available to eligible personal staff members after completing the prescribed period of service. The practice of replacing personal staff during a govt’s tenure has faced criticism especially during the LDF period, with opponents alleging that frequent appointments and changes enable more people to become eligible for pension benefits.
