Nepotism charges 'baseless,' ready to face probe: Minister

Dismissing as "baseless" the nepotism charges levelled against him, Minister for Local Administration, K T Jaleel Sunday said he was ready to face any probe.

The Muslim Youth League had on November 2 alleged that Adeeb K T, a cousin of Jaleel, was appointed general manager in Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation, flouting rules.

"There is nothing to hide. I am not afraid of any investigation. If there is nepotism, let them go to the court. We can appoint anyone on deputation if they have the requisite qualification," the minister said.

He also said the allegation came up after the corporation initiated the process to recover bad debts.

"Many Muslim League leaders started facing the heat after the corporation initiated the process to recover the unpaid loans. Some league leaders have taken huge amounts of loan and have not repaid," Jaleel alleged.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala demanded the resignation of the minister alleging rules were flouted to make the appointment.

"The minister even diluted the education qualification for the post. It is clear that due process was not followed in the matter," Chennithala alleged.

However, justifying the appointment, Jaleel said Adeeb was a manager of a scheduled bank and after being appointed at the Corporation, he had to forego many benefits that he got from the bank.

He also reiterated that only seven people had applied for the post out of which three appeared for the interview but could not fulfil the eligibility criteria.

"Many of the allowances available for the bank managers are not available for the general manager of the corporation. Probably that is the reason why only a few turned up for the interview," Jaleel noted.

Meanwhile, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the explanation given by Jaleel was not satisfactory and sought his resignation from the ministry.

Jaleel is the second minister of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government being accused of nepotism.

In October 2016, just five months after coming to power, then Industries minister E P Jayarajan had to resign on a similar charge.

However, Jayarajan was reinstated as a minister in August this year.