Salary of CM's personal staffers increased by nearly 200 percent in six years; figures come out

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The salary of the Chief Minister's personal staffers has increased by 190.16 per cent in six years. The new figures have come at a time when salaries, pensions and other benefits for the personal staff of ministers and other cabinet-level administrators are increasing the financial liabilities of the state. These are the figures between the period 2013-2014 and 2019-2020.

Earlier, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan had strongly criticized the appointment of the personal staff of ministers. "Ministers have more than twenty personal staff. The staff are being changed every two years. The state is incurring a huge financial burden, including pensions and salaries," the governor said. Figures that came out recently second the governor's statements.

"Party recruitment is taking place in the name of appointment of staff. I had only 11 personal staff when I served as Union Minister. The government is trying to grow the party cadre in the name of staff appointments. I've asked the government to repeal this practice and include it in the policy address," he said. The governor also said that he will not back down from his stand.

During 2019-2020, the government spent Rs 34.79 crore as travel and salary expenses for the personal staff of ministers. An amount of Rs 7.13 crore was spent on pension for retired staff and Rs 1.79 crore was spent as gratuity. Upon comparing with the figures for the period 2013-2014, it can be found that the salary and travel expenses for the personal staff of the ministers have increased by 25.30 per cent during the last six years. The salary and other benefits of the CM's personal staffers have increased by 190.61 percent. The pension expenses have doubled from Rs 3.53 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 7.13 crore in 2019-2020. The minimum pension for personal staff members is Rs 3550 and the maximum is Rs 83400.