Thiruvananthapuram: As the Kerala Government has decided not to extend the validity of 493 PSC rank lists that will expire today, disillusioned jobseekers are up in arms against the State authorities.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly on Monday that it would not be possible to implement the demand for giving jobs to all those whose names found a place in these lists published earlier by the state recruiter Public Service Commission.
The Opposition United Democratic Front walked out of the House in protest against the denial for an adjournment motion on the issue as sought by Shafi Parambil, MLA.
The Opposition questioned the reluctance of the government to extend the validity of the existing lists at a time when the preliminary exam results for new recruits were not even published.
Shafi remarked that the government had imposed an undeclared ban on appointments in the State.
No decision at PSC meeting
A meeting of the PSC, however, meanwhile did not take any decision on the extension of the validity of the rank list. The PSC's stand is that it does not have the power to take an independent decision without getting the approval of the State Government.
PSC moves High Court
Meanwhile, the PSC has gone on appeal in the Kerala High Court against the decision of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) ordering to extend the validity of the rank list for Last Grade Services (LGS) till September 29.
The court will hear the case today.
The PSC wanted immediate stay on the SAT order. Among the rank lists that are going to expire, the LGS list has the maximum number of qualified candidates.
Meanwhile, the PSC has decided to fill the vacancies in 43 posts at the district and state-levels.
Protest by rank-holders
Women civil police rank-holders protested against the government by cutting their hair in front of the Secretariat after the Chief Minister said `no' to the extension of the validity of the rank list.
Three rank-holders Priyanka, Sheela and Rakhi, who have been sitting on agitation for the last 15 days, led the protests.
They pointed out that their rank list was not extended even once even though it has only one-year validity. Out of the 2,100 vacancies for women civil police, only 597 rank-holders were given appointments.
They wondered if this discrimination was just because they were women. They asked the government why it had retracted from its earlier promise of allotting an extra 15 per cent quota for women jobseekers.
Meanwhile, the LGS rank-holders, who got a favourable verdict from the High Court, have been continuing their agitation in front of the Secretariat.
The protest by the All-Kerala Teachers' Rank Holders' Association entered the 17th day.
