Even as the State government has said it will soon hold exams for recruitment of gazetted probationers, questions still remain about the exams, as the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has been without a head for over a year now. Not just that, the KPSC has only five members of the mandated 10 members, including the chairman.
Former KPSC chairman Gonal Bheemappa, whose term ended on May 10, 2013, was mired in controversy and was charge-sheeted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for alleged corruption in recruitment of 362 gazetted probationers. The then senior-most KPSC member, Kaniram, held charge as KPSC chairman for two months in an ad-hoc arrangement. However, it has been more than a year since his term also came to an end.
Of the nine KPSC members apart from the chairman, three member’s terms have ended, leaving only six in the KPSC. The sixth member, Mangala Sridhar, an accused in the KPSC scam has been suspended on charges of corruption. However, she has challenged her suspension in the High Court.
Acting on the recommendations of the P.C. Hota Committee, which looked into rehauling the KPSC, the State Cabinet in June this year, decided to increase the number of members in the KPSC from 10 to 14, including the chairman. However, this is yet to be implemented. Even after a year, the government, which has said it is committed to rehaul KPSC and rid it of systemic corruption, is yet to make crucial appointments.
A senior KPSC official said the working of the commission has severely been affected without a chairman in place. The official said this had also led to undermining the autonomy of the commission as the government and even the CID had intervened in its affairs. The official also said that in the past year, left with no option, the KPSC had gone ahead and made crucial recruitments, with the few members it has.
