Rift in Kerala PSC over Governor’s ouster recommendation

Thiruvananthapuram: Confusion prevails in the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) over the follow-up measures related to the Governor’s recommendation to the President seeking the ouster of the PSC Chairman and members. A PSC meeting held on Monday also took no decision on the matter.

Officials said the Commission would decide on the course of action only after the President forwards the Governor’s recommendation to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a section of PSC members allege the issue worsened due to the dictatorial actions of the Chairman, M R Baiju. They alleged that the Chairman ignored complaints by candidates regarding lapses in the conduct of the exam for the post of Planning Board Chief. This made the situation complex and led to the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the members said.

After the Governor’s recommendation, efforts have been initiated by the Chairman to settle the disputes through compromise. However, the move is yet to become effective.

A few PSC members met Chief Minister VD Satheesan and apprised him of the developments. Candidates also informed Satheesan of the matters at PSC. At present, the Chairman and a few members have come together as one faction, while all the other PSC members oppose them.

PSC Chairman to be questioned on Wednesday
The Crime Branch’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) will question Kerala PSC Chairman Baiju in the case related to alleged malpractices in the Planning Board Chief post, at 11 am on Wednesday. The questioning will take place at the Crime Branch headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, and the Chairman will be served a notice to appear at this office. The SIT is approaching the Chairman for the first time after registering a case in the scam.

Meanwhile, the SIT took statements from three PSC members, S Sreekumar, S A Saif and Stany Thomas. Investigators sought details such as why the valuation of 10 questions carrying 58 marks was not carried out; who had prepared the question paper and how; and the names of the interview panellists, from the PSC members. The members replied that omission of certain questions during the evaluation process was a technical error and the rank-list was prepared after carrying out the necessary corrections.

The SIT also asked the PSC members about the various aspects of the conduct of the exams and technical issues involved. Details were collected from the PSC members considering them as witnesses, and they are likely to be summoned again, said sources.

The SIT, led by Crime Branch IG Ajeetha Begum, spent around 90 minutes taking the statements.

PSC candidate tonsures head
S Valarmathi, state secretary of the LPST (Lower Primary School Teacher) Rank-holders’ Association, tonsured her head in protest against the delay in appointments. The protest took place in front of the Secretariat on Monday, when the agitation crossed 112 days.

While the government had invited the candidates for a discussion when the Secretariat stir had completed 37 days and announced that the demands of the job-seekers would be approved, the tonsuring protest was organised alleging that the promises were not kept.

Association office-bearers warned that they would launch a hunger strike until death if there was further delay in recruitment.

The main demands of the protestors include freezing the government circular to hasten recruitment in the aided sector and ensuring vacancies to appoint candidates in the PSC rank-list.

Action against two PSC officials
The PSC has taken disciplinary action against two of its officials, who are accused in the case related to malpractice in the Planning Board chief exam. The officials are PSC's former Deputy Secretary P Satheesh and Additional Secretary in the Examination Section R Hari.

While Hari, who is currently in service, has been suspended, the retirement benefits of Satheesh will be frozen, considering his superannuation. The SIT had recently submitted a report before the Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram listing both of them as accused in the case.

Karnataka PSC too in controversy
In Karnataka, the PSC Chairman of the state, Shivashankarappa S Sahukur, was suspended by the Governor on a complaint that he had illegally included his children in a PSC list. However, the High Court quashed the suspension as the Governor had acted without the approval of the state government. A Cabinet meeting subsequently issued the recommendation, following which the Chairman was suspended again in August this year.

Shivashankarappa is also an accused in a case related to taking bribes for the appointment of veterinary officers. Currently, Shivashankarappa, along with a former examination controller of PSC and a Syndicate member of Tumakuru University, are on remand in these two cases. A case has been registered against another PSC member also.