The DYFI and the AIYF took out separate marches in the city to highlight the cause of educated unemployed in the State. The DYFI's march was to the head office of the Travancore Devaswom Board demanding steps to fill the vacancies on the Travancore and Kochi Devaswom Boards. Inaugurating a dharna held by the marchers before the TDB office, State secretary of the DYFI T.V.Rajesh expressed surprise at the failure to take follow-up action even two years after the appointments were handed over to the PSC. It strengthened doubts as to whether the Devaswom Board was aiding the moves of some vested interests to scuttle appointments through the PSC. It was to end corruption and irregularities involved in recruitment that the LDF government decided to leave it to the PSC. But not even preliminary steps for implementing the decision had been taken so far.
He said the people had unanimously welcomed the government's decision to hand over the recruitment to the PSC. He contended that there were around 500 vacancies in the administrative side on both the devaswom boards. If the delay in implementing recruitment rules was the reason, the government should bring out an executive order and take concerted steps to fill the vacancies.
The AIYF took out its march to the Secretariat and held a dharna before it demanding the ending of the uncertainty over the PSC appointments to the vacancies caused by the retirement en mass of government employees. It demanded that recruitment to universities and PSUs be handed over to the PSC and that PSUs must raise retirement age. State president of the organisation, V.S.Sunil Kumar, MLA, who inaugurated the march and the dharna said the retirements on March 31 had created over 25,000 vacancies in government service. He warned of a strong agitation if the government adopted a stand which would deny job opportunities to unemployed youths.
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