As Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) job aspirants continue their protest before the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram for the 24th consecutive day over delayed appointments and alleged recruitment irregularities, a Crime Branch probe has uncovered an alleged valuation manipulation in a senior recruitment examination. The latest revelations have further strengthened the protesters’ allegations of irregularities in the state’s recruitment process.
The protesters are demanding:
– Immediate appointments from delayed rank lists, accurate reporting of job vacancies, and action against examination evaluation anomalies.
– Job aspirants who cleared Kerala Public Service Commission examinations, such as Lower Primary (LP) School Teacher rank-holders, are frustrated over withheld appointment orders and prolonged delays despite being included in the rank lists.
– Transparent and accurate reporting of actual job vacancies across departments rather than leaving sanctioned posts vacant.
– Accountability for the alleged irregularities, evaluation errors, and anomalies in question paper distribution in recent recruitment examinations.
The agitators have adopted various methods of protest, all of them unique.
Eating soil and kneeling on rock salt were among the methods of protest. They have also organised late-night and sudden symbolic protests outside government offices to intensify pressure. The candidates have staged continuous round-the-clock relay fasts at the protest venue for weeks.
The agitators challenged security arrangements and barged into the Kerala PSC headquarters, demanding the resignation of the officials. They even marched to Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister. This led to confrontations and a subsequent water cannon charge.
However, the Chief Minister has not addressed the grievances of the KPSC candidates.
Critics argue that the same Chief Minister had time to travel to Jantar Mantar to support the Cockroach Janata Party agitation in Delhi.
In other words, the KPSC has become a centre for free-for-all. While in the Opposition, V.D. Satheeshan had promised that, once the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power, the issues faced by PSC candidates would be resolved immediately.
In addition to the ongoing protests and demands, several grave anomalies have been reported from Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the valuation of KPSC (Kerala Public Service Commission) answer papers, raising serious concerns over the recruitment process.
A Left organisation leader has been selected to the position of Chief, Industry and Infrastructure, in the State Planning Board. Bigwigs of the PSC and top politicians are suspected in the conspiracy. Bribery is also suspected.
A Left trade union leader in the Kerala Water Authority is the ‘lucky man’ to secure the first rank. The ‘leader’ had skipped four questions and wrote wrong answers to six questions. These questions were ‘removed’ by the valuer. It led to a situation where candidates who wrote the correct answers were effectively awarded zero marks for those questions.
Significantly, if all the questions had been valued, the ‘leader’s’ score would have been 53 marks lower than that of the second-rank holder. The leader would not even have found a place in the shortlist. (Now his salary scale is Rs 123,700–Rs 166,800.)
Reports suggest that the role of three senior officials in the examination department of the KPSC has been traced. They allegedly did not hand over ten questions, which the ‘leader’ could not answer, for on-screen marking.
The allegation is that questions carrying 58 marks, which the ‘leader’ could not answer, were left unvalued.
As a result, the leader allegedly secured the appointment illegitimately. Questions 9 to 18 were left unvalued.
More than 228 candidates did not receive marks for their answers to these questions.
As soon as the rank list was published, Muhamma native V.S. Jayalal, a candidate, applied for a copy of the answer paper.
However, he received it only after more than a year, by which time the appointment had already been made. Only then was it discovered that, out of 28 questions, only 18 had been valued.
According to reports, the Crime Branch is likely to serve notices on the PSC Chairman and two members who had conducted the interviews.
The leader secured 36 out of 40 marks in the interview, while the second-rank holder received only 11 marks.
The Deputy Secretary, Junior Superintendent and System Analyst have reportedly been interrogated. They are likely to be named as accused. Computer logs have been seized. The bribery angle will also be investigated.
So far, 90 complaints have been received. The inquiry team is likely to be expanded by inducting more Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs) and Inspectors. Inspector General of Police (IG) Ajeeta Begum IPS is heading the investigation. There were reports of a departmental vigilance inquiry initiated by the KPSC. However, it has reportedly ceased to function.
The anomalies involve evaluation software lapses, missing descriptive entries, and question paper mix-ups.
Several other anomalies have also been alleged against the KPSC. One of them concerns a question paper mix-up. A Last Grade Servants (LGS) examination held at a centre in Alappuzha had to be cancelled after candidates received the morning session question paper during the afternoon session due to an administrative mix-up.
