DIMAPUR, MAY 3 (MExN): The Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) today questioned the ruling People’s Democratic Alliance’s (PDA) move to induct 13 party functionaries with Cabinet Minister or Minister of State status, Advisors to the departments, Advisor to CM and Chairman. It may be noted that the NVCO had previously also expressed concern at the proposal of 13 ex-cadre posts to be associated with Chief Minister’s office, “wherein mere political party worker and ordinary citizens who now does not hold any status in the government has been accorded the position in the ranks of Commissioner & Secretary/Secretary/Jt. Secretary/Class 1 Gazetted.” The NVCO had also questioned whether the appointment of a certain individual as OSD, Nagaland House, New Delhi was “constitutional” or “legal.” A press note from the NVCO press and media cell said that during the NPF-led government, the organization had urged the state Governor to remove the 26 Parliamentary Secretaries and nine Advisors as the Supreme Court had declared such posts as unconstitutional. “Initially the PDA government seemed to be doing better such as doing away with VIP culture or say ‘no’ to the post of Parliamentary Secretaries in honouring the law of the land but subsequently headed to a very different direction by bringing a nomenclature ‘Advisor’ to the departments, chairman committees, inducting party workers to the status of cabinet ministers and minister of state, appointing party workers and ordinary citizens who now does not hold any status in the government to be in the rank of Commissioner & Secretary/Secretary/Jt. Secretary/Class 1 Gazetted, etc,” the NVCO claimed. This, it stated is against the object of the National Commission for review of the working of the Indian Constitution where Article 164(1A) was INSERT IGNOREed on misuse and drainage of public money to put a ban on over-sized cabinet. This provision provides for limiting the number of ministers in the state cabinet, it reminded, pointing out that the total number of Ministers including the Chief Minister has to be within 15 per cent of the total number of members of legislative assembly of the state.
