Minister's sudden inspection finds vacant seats in Road Fund Board office; the employees were caught red handed, directs to take immediate action

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister PA Mohammad Riyas who visited the Kerala Road Fund Board headquarters and project management unit under the Public Works Department for a sudden inspection found vacant seats. The Minister was accompanied by Public Works Department Secretary Ajith Kumar arrived at 12 noon yesterday.

Most of the cabins were unoccupied and many were closed. There were no engineers. When asked the answer was that two engineers were in the field and one was at a meeting of the SmartCity CEO. When the Public Works Secretary phoned the Smart City CEO and asked, he was told that there was no Road Fund Board Engineer there. In the meantime, the engineer returned to his office.

The minister visited the project management unit of PMG after inspecting the Road Fund Board office at Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium. Many of the staff who were in charge of the implementation of the KIIFB projects were absent here . The inspection was prompted by concerns over road development projects in the capital, including the Smart City, and the non-attendance of some employees illegally.

The staff was unable to produce the movement register at the Road Fund Board office. There were no official letters informing other departments about the need for joint inspections. It was found that some had not signed the attendance book for days and some had not come to work for days even after the leave ended.

The Minister expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of both the offices and directed the department secretary to take immediate action.