Telecom secretary PJ Thomas sworn in as CVC

PJ Thomas, former secretary to the telecom department, has been appointed central vigilance commissioner despite opposition demand that he may not be the right person for the post considering the allegations of corruption in the allotment of 2G spectrum by the department while he was the secretary.

Thomas was sworn in as 14th Central Vigilance Commissioner by the President of India in a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had objected to the appointment of PJ Thomas as the next central vigilance commissioner (CVC) on the ground that he comes from a department that is facing serious allegations of corruption.

The BJP had sought the appointment of a person of unblemished reputation and Thomas was once implicated in the Kerala palm oil import scam as well. Although he was later exonerated, the mud sticks.

Thomas in his role as CVC will be investigating the 2G spectrum scam, and possibly the Commonwealth Games scam as well - the two main pinpricks for the ruling UPA.

While Thomas cannot be taken as someone who has no connection with either of these two issues, he has excellent academic credentials.

He holds a Master's Degree in physics and economics and has done a one-year course in public administration at the International Institute of Public Administration, Paris.

Thomas started off as secretary to the government of Kerala in the finance, industry, agriculture, law & justice and human resource development departments. He was also founder-director of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. He became chief secretary of Kerala in 2007 and moved to Government of India as secretary in the ministry of parliamentary affairs in January 2009. He took over as secretary in the department of telecommunication in October 2009.