THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has now turned his attention to the issue of pension for ministers' personal employees, after taking on the CPI(M)-led Kerala government over the appointment of vice-chancellors in universities.

According to sources close to the matter, Khan has made the decision to work on this and is researching the procedures used by other governments. The results of the investigation will guide his next step.

All personal employees who are hired after two years of service are currently eligible for a lifetime pension and other benefits. This causes a wild rush to join the Ministers' staff.

Khan earlier said that even a Union Minister does not have access to such privileges while denouncing this practise.
In the defence, one must service for a minimum of more than ten years to be eligible for a lifelong pension. In contrast, Kerala just requires two years of service for individuals on the ministerial staff.

With 33 personal employees, Vijayan currently has the most, followed by his son-in-laws P.A. Mohammad Riyas and Abdurehman, who each have 28 employees, and state transport minister Antony Raju, who has the fewest with 19 employees.

Meanwhile, a look into the number of personal employees reveals that the Oommen Chandy government (2011-16) had 61 personal staff members, the first Pinarayi Vijayan government (2016-21) had 448 and the second Vijayan government that assumed office in May 2021 now has 489.

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