₹60 lakh to renovate bathroom! Vigilance after former Kerala CS
FollowThe Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB) has ordered a probe against former Chief Secretary (CS) Jiji Thomson following allegations that he had spent crores of public money to renovate his temporary official residence at Thiruvananathapuram.
Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas ordered the probe on Monday based on a complaint. Earlier, Home Secretary had ordered a probe into similar allegations against the former CS related to the renovation of the building. But Thomson, who was the CS then, annulled the order.
In April 2015, Kerala Government Contractors Association (KGCA) had sought a judicial probe against Thomson, alleging that he tried to turn a government building into an IAS officers club. They also alleged that he was trying to renovate his temporary residence spending crores while the government had already allotted another residence for him at the capital.
The KGCA complained that an estimate of more than ₹1.6 crore had been prepared for the renovation of the temporary residence, which would later be used as Civil Service Officer's Institute. The top bureaucrat allegedly spent ₹ 60 lakh on bathroom alone!
Though the state Home Secretary ordered a probe into the allegations of the KGCA last year, Thomson shot down the move. He justified the decision to renovate the temporary residence citing the inordinate delay in the construction of the new official residence for the CS.
