Youth Congress intensifies protest over PSC rank list issue in Ker

Youth Congress workerson Tuesday intensified their protest demanding extension ofvalidity of the public service commission (PSC) rank lists andalleging back-door appointments by the LDF government.

The CPI(M) heading the LDF maintained the agitation wasaimed at forcing the government to make illegal appointmentsin various departments.

In a related development, the All India Youth Federation(AIYF), the youth wing of the CPI, a major LDF ally, helddiscussions with the rank holders, agitating in front of thestate secretariat here since January 26, to find an amicablesolution on their demand for extending the rank list.

The Youth Congress activists, who have extended supportto the agitation by the rank holders, staged protests acrossthe state.

The stir here turned violent and police used watercannons to disperse the agitating workers of the YouthCongress, which has accused the Pinarayi Vijayan government ofmaking back-door appointments in various governmentdepartments in the guise of regularising the services oftemporary staff instead of appointing those on rank lists.

Countering the charges, CPI-M state secretary in-chargeA Vijayaraghavan wondered how the government can appointpeople from 'expired' rank lists.

''How can we encourage a protest to force the governmentto make illegal appointments? The Congress is encouragingviolent politics. This is a conspiracy to create unrest,'' healleged.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly andsenior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala sought to know whythe chief minister was 'reluctant' to settle the protest ofthe rank holders.

''They have been begging the government for jobs. But thegovernment refuses to pay heed. This shows the arrogance ofthe government,'' he charged.

Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said the governmentshould ''extend the rank list'' by 18 more months, failing whichthe LDF ''will have to pay a huge price''.

Vijayan had earlier said the government has released4,012 rank lists in five years covering nearly four lakhpeople.

Currently, there were 5,28,231 government staff acrossthe state and every year only 25,000 appointments can be made,he had said, while noting that all the PSC rank lists endingthis month have already been extended by six months.

Appointments in government posts are made from the ranklists published by the PSC after relevant periodical exams andinterviews. The lists will have five times more people thanthe number of vacancies and are valid for periods ranging fromone to three years.