Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya told reporters that the cabinet had made the decision, but a formal announcement had been shelved. Opposition Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee claimed the state government was taking financial decisions ahead of the election with a view to influencing voters. Mamata Banerjee can go to court if she feels there is anything illegal. Thursday's cabinet meeting, chaired by Bhattacharya, ratified the appointment of about 400 people in police, fire and health departments and regularization of service of personal attendants of a few ministers. The service of a personal attendant of a minister can be considered for regularization after a year.
Rules allow a minister the discretion to appoint two personal attendants a year.
The cabinet has also endorsed the appointment of at least three persons on humanitarian grounds while regularizing the services of a few employees of the health and labor departments. The cabinet, in its last meeting March 21, had decided to recruit for 1,250 vacant positions in the police. The state election commission has not yet reacted to the allegations of code violation against the government, primarily because it has yet to receive a formal complaint. The state's chief election officer, Sabhyasachi Sen, told IANS that there was nothing wrong in the cabinet meeting, but a clarification could be sought from the government if anything objectionable was found. Earlier, the government had announced several sops including separate housing estates for minority communities and personal loan schemes for state employees.