Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan once again categorically ruled out any further extension of PSC rank lists that will expire on August 4. The chief minister's declaration in the Assembly on Monday comes two days after the State Administrative Tribunal directed the PSC to extend the validity of the lists by at least three months.
The chief minister termed as "unscientific" what he called the tendency to keep extending the validity of rank lists indefinitely. "There are many times more job aspirants waiting outside for a chance to get into government jobs," Pinarayi said while responding to an adjournment motion in the Assembly on Monday.
He also, in a tone of sarcasm, said that a rank list could not be retained till the last person in the list was appointed.
Further, the chief minister said there was a legal limit beyond which the validity of a PSC rank list could not be extended. Rule 13 of the Kerala Public Service Commission Rules of Procedure, he said, had laid down that the usual validity of a list was one year and that in the absence of a new list, the existing list could be extended for up to a maximum of two more years provided a new list was not published in between.
He said an extension beyond three years was possible but only if two conditions prevail. One, a recruitment freeze had to be in place. Two, circumstances prevailed that prevented the reporting of vacancies. The chief minister said both these conditions were non-existent in Kerala.
The Opposition, on its part, alleged that the chief minister, by refusing to extend the validity of the lists, was taking revenge on these rank holders who had gone on an intense agitation against the government before the elections.
"Why is the government acting so adamant? Will anyone else lose their opportunity if these rank lists are extended," asked Shafi Parambil, the Congress MLA who moved the adjournment motion. "When there is no other rank list existing, what stops the government from extending the validity of the existing ones," he said.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said that it would take a year, at least till the end of 2022, before a new rank list could be published. "Till then there would be no rank lists," Satheesan said.
He said the PSC rules of procedure did not prohibit governments from extending the lists beyond three years as stated by the chief minister. "If there is an extraordinary situation that prevents the reporting of vacancies, the government could extend the lists, " he said. Satheesan asked what could be more extraordinary than the 2018 and 2019 floods and the existing pandemic situation; the rank lists came into force from 2018.
Satheesan argued that the rank holders did not profit from the government decision on February 4 to extend the validity of lists till August 4. "On February 26, the election code of conduct came into force. Till May 4, when the code of conduct was lifted, no appointment could be made. But four days later, on May 8, lockdown was announced. It was only by the end of June that offices started to function, " Satheesan said. "It is evident that the extension was of no use to the candidates on the list, " he added.
Satheesan also countered the chief minister's sarcasm that a rank list could not be persisted with till the last person was appointed. "All of us know that not everyone in the list would be absorbed," he said. "Fact is, the appointments made from the existing list (valid since 2018) is not even half of what was made from the last rank list (2015-18)," Satheesan said. In the case of the last grade servants list, he said there was a shortage of 4,067 appointments when compared to the former list. In the case of LD Clerk list, the shortage was 2,055. In the case of drivers, the shortage was more than half, just 771; from the former list 1752 were recruited.
Satheesan said there were two possible reasons why the government was against extending the lists. "Either you are wreaking vengeance on these helpless job seekers or you are afraid that if they are recruited the people you had given backdoor appointments would lose their jobs, " Satheesan said. "I would urge you to treat them as your children," he told the chief minister.
