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Foul play alleged in panchayat secretary postings

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 14. It has been a fairly long wait, and so far in vain, for those who had been selected by the Public Service Commission (PSC) fo r appointment as secreataries of grama panchayats. The delay in posting the selected candidates has gi ven rise to allegations of foulplay by vested interests in the Department of Local Self Government.

According to the Grama Panchayat Secretary Rank Holders' Association, there are 123 candidates, who have gone through the selection grind, waiting to be posted in the panchayats. The recruitment process had begun in 1997 and the ranklist was published on February 13 this year. The PSC had issued the advice memo to 123 persons immediately thereafter, but somehow the Government appears reluctant to complete the process. As many as 1.75 lakh persons had applied for the post and the ranklist eventually published contained 510 names. When the PSC invited applications, there were 87 vacancies. Subsequently, it had risen to 123 and, if the rank holders' association is to be believed, the actual number of vacancies now is 218.

The posts have been categorised as special grade secretary (grama panchayat) and secretary (grama panchayat) under provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Subordinate Service Rules of 1994. The former is to be filled through promotions alone while the latter is to be filled partly by promoting head clerks and partly through direct recruitment, the ratio being 6:4. There are 544 grama panchayats where secretaries are to be filled through this process and 40 per cent of these posts would come to 218, the rank holders' association secretary, Antony Vazhappally, said.

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