KOTTAYAM: Accusing Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan of showing favouritism in the appointment of the chief executive officer (CEO) of Infopark, Kochi, Government Chief Whip P C George on Thursday sought action against the former chief minister and other officials for allegedly violating norms.Achuthanandan had ‘misused’ his office to help CPM fellow-traveller Sebastian Paul’s candidate Jijo Joseph to get selected for the Rs 1.25-lakh salary job by upsetting the original list dislodging the deserving candidate from the coveted post, George told reporters at the Press Club here.He claimed that topper Kishore Pillai was pushed out of the race on the grounds that his application was received late even as the minutes of the selection committee showed that all the applications were received within the stipulated time. When the final list was shown to Achuthanandan, he wanted the committee to produce the biodata and other details following which he made his remark in the selection committee recommendation to drop Kishore Pillai’s name and appoint Jijo Joseph subject to Cabinet’s approval. Charging Achuthanandan and other officials with committing irregularity and engaging in conspiracy, George urged Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to immediately act on the matter and order a Vigilance probe against Achuthanandan and other officials. When asked what was his plans if the government ignored his complaint, George said he knew what to do then. He said a total of 99 applications were received for the post, out of which 12 professionals were shortlisted by the selection committee comprising K Jayakumar, Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Kumar, the then IT Department principal secretary, and Rajiv Sreenivasan, IIM, Bangalore, on November 10, 2010.P C George also released the copies of the letter written to the Chief Minister, Industry and IT Minister P K Kunhalikutty and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, copies of the minutes of the meeting held for the selection of the CEO and the copy of the minutes in which the former Chief Minister had made remarks seeking copies of the biodata of the three candidates.Meanwhile P C George fumbled to give a convincing reply to his charges against Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on the issue of the appointment of Infopark CEO. George could not give an authentic reply to a query as to why Achuthanandan as the Chief Minister had to take a circuitous route to push through an ‘ineligible’ candidate for the top post of the Infopark. George said that Achuthanandan may have faced to put the desired candidate on the top slot in the initial stages of screening aspirants. “Some of the officials of the selection board were unrelenting to interferences,” he said, contradicting his own claim that the officials were hand in glove on the issue.
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