Suspected the poor union

The transfer of honest officials who do not support corruption is not a new phenomenon. It has happened during the term of various governments in Kerala. That is the norm everywhere in India. However, the administrators will always find a cause and propagate it to convince the people Here, the reason given for the sudden transfer of KSEB Chairman Dr B Ashok was that he was not on good terms with the unions. Often the union members are mere pawns. If at least some union leaders have pointed their fingers at the chairman and threatened him, it is not of their own will. It is because of the great powers that support them. This is the peculiarity of the new era when money power started to take hold over democracy.

Yesterday, we published a report by our correspondent PH Sanalkumar which stated that it was the contract lobby that was behind the removal of Ashok from the post of KSEB chairman. The report pointed out that the chairman was removed from the post for resisting a contract that caused heavy loss for the KSEB. The chairman had given a letter and toughened his stand seeking cancellation of the contract which was causing a loss of Rs 1000 crore to the state government. This report sheds light on the fact that the lobbies related to private institutions in other states had conspired to ensure that Ashok is removed from the post of chairman. IAS officer M Sivashankar, who later became a controversial figure, was the chairman of the board at that time. The power contract regulator was a prominent leader of a left-wing association. The contract has not yet been approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Law Department or the Central Government. Last year, the Electricity Regulatory Commission had noticed an irregularity in the purchase of electricity from 2018 to 2020 under an unapproved contract and ordered that the government and the board should take action against those responsible for causing a loss of Rs 234.40 crore. With this, if a case comes up, the Regulatory Commission will not be held guilty. Nobody knows what happened to the notification that went to the government in this regard. The new board chairman gave a note to the government to take strict action in this regard. It is up to the cabinet to decide. However, the file has not yet reached the cabinet for consideration. Earlier, the electricity was purchased under the contract without permission from the government. The contract lobby knows that if the regulatory commission approves the contract, it can continue. They have their own way of doing whatever it takes to achieve it and get the right people in the right places. They will remove those who stand in their way. That is what happened here. People suspected the poor union for that. When the best officials are removed, it will create suspicion among the people that the authorities did it for corruption. Government and officials will keep on changing. There should be no public loss to the state in the name of any contract. Necessary action should be taken by the government immediately.