Kerala Chief Minister Denies Excessive Appointments to Ministerial Staff

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Refuting reports of appointments of a larger number of people as part of the ministers' personal staff, Chief Minister VD Satheesan said the present number is much lower than in the previous government. "The UDF government has appointed only 476 people as personal staff of ministers, while the previous LDF government had appointed a total of 787 people. 31 individuals are part of my personal staff, which, if needed, can be legally increased as well. No minister has appointed more than 25 people as personal staff, while it was 27-29 in the previous tenure," he said. Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Satheesan also added that the Chief Whip has a total of 16 personal staff, unlike 28 in the previous government.