How valuable is a minute? If the question is posed to P.S. Saiju of “Sayoojyam”, Udayamperoor, the answer would be this: “the cost of my life”.
The supplementary list of the Public Service Commission (PSC) for appointment of lower division (LD) clerks which included Saiju's name, expired at midnight on March 31, 2018. However, the Urban Affairs department in Thiruvananthapuram reported the vacancy at 12.01 past midnight. The job opportunity was lost due to a delay of one minute!
This incident has come to light even as a similar case of the young woman, Nisha Balakrishnan, who lost her opportunity for employment in the Urban Affairs department, is still a burning issue.
The efforts put in for 20 years by Saiju, who suffers from a disability in one eye, were shattered due to the apathy of the officials. Saiju, who was placed ninth on the list, was a regular visitor to the district office of the PSC before the list expired on March 31. Every time he visited the office, the officials would skirt the issue by assuring him that the job intimation would be sent.
At last, on March 31, Saiju came to know that those ranked till eight on the list had been considered for appointment and that a native of Edavanakkad, who ranked eight, had given it in writing two weeks previously that he did not want the job. By then, the list had a validity of only a few more hours.
The PSC officials took the stand that before the expiry of the list, the person ranked eighth should be traced and his letter forgoing his job opportunity should reach the Urban Affairs department in Thiruvananthapuram and that the same department must officially report the vacancy to the PSC.
In accordance with this, the person ranked eighth was traced by 6.30 in the evening and the letter was sent by email to the Urban Affairs department in Thiruvananthapuram. The officials in the district office of the PSC said that the commission had replied that it had received the letter and that all due procedures on the part of Saiju had been completed and asked him to report at the office after receiving the advice memo.
When he reached the PSC office the next day, eager to get the job, everything turned upside down. The officials said that the intimation from the Urban Affairs department was received at 12.01 a.m. and that the list had been cancelled at 12 midnight itself.
The very next day, Saiju went to the Urban Affairs department in Thiruvananthapuram and submitted a petition personally. Even though the Director of Urban Affairs wrote a letter to the district officer of the PSC, stating that it could be considered a technical fault and that appointment should be made to the vacancy, the PSC officials did not relent.
Twenty years of efforts by a vision impaired Saiju, who runs a stationery shop at Nadakkavu, Udayamperoor, went in vain due to the apathy of the officials. Following this, Saiju approached the Administrative Tribunal and obtained a verdict that he should be appointed if there are vacancies. However, the PSC has rejected it, citing technicalities.
