Thiruvananthapuram: The expiry of several rank lists of the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) recently had upset thousands of candidates who had cleared the qualifying tests. Now, the State Government is toying with the idea of reducing the number of candidates in the rank lists. This move is beneficial for the government as it won't come under any pressure to recruit all those who feature in the list drawn up by the public recruiter.
Though the State Government is unlikely to take any hasty decision regarding the trimming of rank lists, any such action is set to create resentment among the job aspirants as they will be deprived of chances to lay claim for government posts.
With the Justice K K Dineshan commission being appointed to give recommendations on the matter, the government is expected to study the issue in detail. Subsequently, the PSC will take a decision on the basis of government's advice.
Drawback of current recruitment practice
The current practice is to make appointments against the candidates named in the rank list when several vacancies arise in a particular department. If the new plan takes effect, the administration can avoid chances of agitation by rank list holders as had happened recently.
If there are more aspirants in the rank list then they would be able to get new posts sanctioned. In such a case often the government departments come under pressure to report the vacancies.
It was on the basis of the Narendran Commission report that the number of aspirants in the rank lists was increased five-fold. Accordingly, more candidates from the reserved category are also being included in a ratio commensurate with the number of candidates in the main list.
For instance if there are 100 candidates in the main list, then to adhere to the 14 percent Ezhava reservation 70 candidates from that community would be included in the supplementary list. Also as per the mandated 12 percent reservation for Muslims, 60 persons from that community would find a place in the supplementary list. In the same manner people belonging to all reserved categories will figure in the list.
But a majority of them do not get employment as the vacancies are a few and far between.
What is the government's goal
If the number of candidates in the list is reduced significantly then there is a possibility of the main list getting exhausted before the stipulated three years period.
If the main list is reduced, the supplementary list will also get trimmed. Once the last person in the main list is given employment, the supplementary list will cease to exist.
How UPSC and other PSCs recruit
The PSCs in other states and the central public recruiter, UPSC, publish rank lists commensurate with the vacancies. However, the Kerala PSC draws up a long list of probable recruits and that is often at variance with the likely vacancies. Changing this practice at once would disappoint job aspirants, but will eliminate hassles for the government.
The powers to decide the number of people in a list is vested with the PSC. The government is of the view that inclusion of more people in the list would pave the way for exploitation and undesirable tendencies.