TRIVANDRUM, 15 January 2006 — Kerala Gov. R. L. Bhatia yesterday accepted the resignation of Health Minister K.K. Ramachandran Master who was caught on an audiotape giving instructions to a district medical officer not to give statements against him in the Lok Adalat, a quasi-judicial watchdog that was probing charges of corruption. The minister put in his papers on Friday afternoon after local television channels ran the tape. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy forwarded the resignation to the governor by midnight after consulting top leaders of his Congress party. The party’s Kerala unit president, Ramesh Chennithala, said they would take a decision on the new minister by Monday. The chief of the Lok Adalat, Lokayukta, has found widespread irregularities in appointments and transfers in the Health Department and observed that it could not have taken place without the minister’s knowledge. The Master is the third minister being forced to resign since Chandy came to power one and half years ago.
