This is the second part of the Malayala Manorama editorial series “PSC's List of Shame”. (Read Part 1 here)
Aspirants work hard to make it to the PSC rank list and it is only natural for them to feel disappointed when they don’t get an appointment or when a rank list expires.
But what causes immense anguish and pain is when they realise that it’s not the lack of vacancies that has snatched a job away from them.
Rather the temporary, backdoor appointments of relatives and supporters that party activists and governments make to many posts that are to be filled through the PSC rank lists are the spoilers. Candidates who have cleared the exams end up feeling cheated.
Masters in Arts, steers an auto
Name: VR Vijeesh (34)
Rank: 112 (Main List)
Driver (Various), Thrissur
Job: Auto driver
VR Vijeesh, a resident of Kiliyunnikkal House, in Parasuvaikkal, Neyyattinkara, in Thiruvananthapuram, has completed his MA. He was driving an auto since he was 18, but that stopped while studying for MA. Vijeesh’s name figures on 11 PSC shortlists.
Vijeesh took the examination for the post of a driver in Thrissur, knowing that the district has a large number of vacancies. But, only 65 people have been recruited from the rank list with his name. The list expires in six months.
Vijeesh's family consists of his father, mother, wife and daughter. Now, he is wearing the auto driver's mantle again after years to feed the family. His father is bed-ridden after an accident.
Life sans colours
Name: AK Vinod (42)
Rank: 50 (Main List)
Driver, Idukki
Job: Painting
AK Vinod, a native of Moolamattom, will not be able to appear for another PSC exam as he is above 42 years of age. He took the exam in 2014, but the rank list was published only in 2018 due to legal problems.
Only 45 appointments have been made so far from the list, which has only six months to expire. His elderly father and mother stay with Vinod.
His wife worked as a tailor, but she is now without a job. Vinod is engaged in painting jobs now without waiting for a government appointment.
Vijeesh and Vinod figure on the rank list for the same post. Despite studying hard and securing a rank, their future is uncertain because of the governments’ penchant for temporary appointments in posts that should be filled through the PSC rank list.
They are hoping for an appointment as light duty vehicle driver (various), which is one of the least reported vacancies.
However, the appointment of temporary drivers in various departments and local bodies reduces their chances further. This post in local bodies is filled with party supporters depending on who is in government.
The government and parties ensure that the vacancies are not reported and that permanent appointments are not made in posts where their supporters are appointed on a temporary basis.
A person gets into the PSC driver rank list after rigorous testing and examination. After the written test and the interview, they have to undergo the health test. Even if they have a valid licence, they have to take the ‘H ‘ test again, sit with officials of the PSC and Department of Motor Vehicles and drive down the road in a vehicle.
But, a temporary driver needs only a recommendation to enjoy a long stint. And the stint can get extended if the head of department approves the ‘appointment’.
Only three of the 86 panchayats in Thrissur, the district for which Vijeesh's rank list applies, have regular drivers. In Vinod 's Idukki, 26 out of 52 panchayats have temporary drivers.
The vacancies occupied by temporary drivers alone are enough for them to get a job.
In Pathanamthitta, no permanent driver has been appointed in the treasury till date since the district’s formation 38 years ago. The local bodies in the district have 41 temporary drivers. So far, PSC advice has been given for 29 people from the rank list. In Ernakulam, drivers’ posts in 78 of the 82 panchayats are occupied by temporary appointees.
There are more than 25 cases related to drivers’ posts before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal. Candidates affected by temporary drivers have spent about Rs 30 lakh in lawyer fees alone to contest their case.
A year-and-a-half ago, the tribunal had directed the government to take an urgent decision on temporary appointments, but the government has not yet responded.
There are 2,695 temporary drivers in the state, according to details obtained through the RTI Act by candidates on the PSC rank list. What’s more, those who have occupied the temporary post for 10 years are being made permanent; those with a rank are then left in the lurch.
Knocking the back door
The rank list for LD Clerk’s posts is the biggest PSC list in the state, but the government’s own acts have been responsible for its undoing.
While 7,651 candidates were recruited from the rank list issued between 2015 and 2018, 3,901 have been recruited from the current list so far. The list expires in eight months.
In no district has even 500 candidates been recommended for appointment in the merit category (open competition). So far, 449 have been recruited from the rank list of Thiruvananthapuram district where 1,005 persons were recruited last time.
The government claims to have recruited 6,080 from the LD Clerk’s list. But this is just the number of appointments recommended. An actual appointment and an appointment recommendation are two different things.
The government continues to include the NJD (Not Joining Duty) vacancies in appointment recommendations even if a candidate recommended previously does not take up the job. This, in effect, gives the impression that the number of appointment recommendations is double than the actual figure.
Deception of PSC rank holders
PSC rank holders are denied jobs in two ways:
Many party members and relatives of the influential are appointed on a temporary basis and later made permanent through the back door. The Library Council has 54 such as LD Clerks and six office attendants. Among them is a 30-year-old who got a temporary appointment at the age of 20 and became a permanent staffer at the age of 30. This is a much easier way to get a government job than writing the PSC exam and competing with lakhs of people.
Dependent appointments are also made recklessly. According to guidelines, no more than 5 per cent of total vacancies in a department should be filled by dependents. But existent norms have been completely disregarded in filling such posts. Many are appointed as dependents through the back door, while thousands of job seekers with high ranks continue to wait for a government job.
So where do the LDC-LGS vacancies go? Some candidates who decided to find out were shocked with the information they obtained.
In one district, the number of LD clerks in the Animal Husbandry Department appointed as dependents was more than those given the job from the PSC rank list! The question then is how are so many dependent appointments made in some departments.
The rationale for dependent vacancies is that the government has the moral obligation to support a family in the likelihood of the death of a government employee, although the possibility of a person dying by the retirement age of 56 is very low.
But there are those who remain in government service till the age of 70 without having ever written a PSC exam. Then their sons or daughters also become LD clerks without writing any exam, thanks to dependent appointments. This fraud has been going on for years with the tacit approval of service organisations in Kerala.
The vacancy for a part-time sweeper in the Animal Husbandry Department is filled through the employment exchange. But, usually, someone close to representatives of the party in government is given the job.
In two years, such candidates are made permanent as Attendants (a post equivalent to LGS). Such people can continue in service till 56 years of age. They can also write tests for promotion up to the level of livestock inspector. But, if they don’t want to be promoted as attendant, they can continue in the sweeper’s post till the age of 70. What’s more, if they die, their children are appointed in various posts, including that of an LD Clerk, as dependents depending on their educational qualifications. Also, the family pension will continue.
Service organisations prefer such appointments as they are more obedient than those who appointed through the PSC rank list, say candidates.
Such appointments of part-time sweepers have been made in the health department also. Every such appointment puts an end to the chances of hard-working government job seekers who have taken the trouble of clearing the PSC exams.
Appointment of LD clerks in dependent vacancies
(Figures for last two years provided to candidates under the Right to Information Act)
Department of Health 97
Panchayat 277
Irrigation Department 19
Department of Education 53
Department of Urban Affairs 51
Fire Force 11
Department of Agriculture 10
Animal Welfare 12
Employment 14
Registration 7
Labour Department 5
Department of Indian Medicine 6
GST 5
Cooperation 5
Thus, the government has made 595 dependent appointments as LD clerks in 28 departments. The appointments in many districts from the LD clerk PSC rank list is not even half of that number.
(To be continued)
(Contributed by: Renji Kuriakose, Santosh John Thooval, Ramesh Ezhuthachan, SV Rajesh, Mintu P Jacob, Joji Simon, KP Safina, Jerin Joy, Robin T Varghese, Sajesh Karanattukara, Kapil Raj, Manish Mohan, Sijith Payyannur. Complied by: Nidheesh Chandran)
