Kerala CM junks oppn allegations of backdoor appointments in government service

Even people who were not on anylist performed some dangerous acts that could endangerpeoples lives.., Vijayan said.The chief minister was referring to the suicideattempt by two persons after pouring kerosene over themselvesduring the protest by PSC rank holders.PTI RRT BNADMINISTRATOR BNADMINISTRATOR

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday dismissed opposition allegationsthat more people were being pushed into government servicethrough backdoor appointments and said the Left Frontgovernment strivesto provide jobs to youngsters.

Vijayan described as baseless the campaign byopposition parties that making permanent temporaryappointments will eliminate the chances of those in the PSCrank list.

Speaking to reporters at Thrissur, Leader ofOpposition Ramesh Chennithala today alleged the cabinet hadconsidered a file to make permanent around 2,600 contractstaff in the government service.

Reacting to this, the chief minister told the mediaat Thiruvanathapuram that the government was making permanentthose who have been working for more than 10 years ingovernment institutions ''where appointments cannot be madethrough PSC or are not left to the Public Service Commission''.

''Today's cabinet meeting has decided to make permanentsome who have been working continuously for more than tenyears including the 'Vidya volunteers' teaching in single-teacher schools located in isolated coastal and forest areas,''Vijayan said.

He said the allegation of backdoor appointments willnot stand as those who are being made permanent were appointedduring the term of the previous UDF government as thisgovernment came to power five years ago.

''...None of them were appointed by the Leftgovernment. This includes those who have been in service for20 years or more also.No one was included or excluded forpolitical reasons.They were made permanent based onhumanitarian consideration,'' Vijayan said.

To Chennithala's allegation that the state governmenthas not extended the validity of any rank list,Vijayan saidall PSC rank lists ending in February have already beenextended by six more months.

''With this, the vacancies which will arise duringApril and May, when most number of retirements happen, willalso be made available to existing rank lists,'' Vijayan said.

Several youths have been protesting in front of thestate secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram since January 26demanding that the validity of the Last Grade PSC rank listpublished in 2017 be extended by six more months.

Explaining the appointments made by government throughthe PSC, Vijayan said, including the 27,000 permanent posts,the Left government has created 44,000 new posts in the lastfive years and appointed 1,57,911 people through the PSC.

''This government has released 4,012 rank lists infive years which include nearly four lakh people. Not everyonegets a job in this.Only one-fifth of the people are normallyrecruited.'' ''Currently, there are5,28,231 government staffacross the state.Every year only 25,000 appointments can bemade to government service.This government has made moreappointments than was possible,'' Vijayan said.

He said it was impractical to give a job to everyonein the rank list as the PSC includes five times morecandidates than the existing vacancies.

Vijayan said the state government has been strivingto provide jobs to the youngsters in the state and for thatinvestment is being done to create more job opportunities.

He also attacked the central government and saidlakhs of vacancies were there in central services and centralpublic sector undertakings and there was recruitment freeze.

Vijayan said attempts are being made to ''cover upall these facts and spread misunderstanding among the jobseekers''.

''Some elements with vested interests are trying tolure innocent youths into the streets.We also witnessed somedramatic events the other day. Even people who were not on anylist performed some dangerous acts that could endangerpeople's lives..,'' Vijayan said.

The chief minister was referring to the suicideattempt by two persons after pouring kerosene over themselvesduring the protest by PSC rank holders.PTI RRT BNADMINISTRATOR BNADMINISTRATOR