Special recruitment board for police likely

The State government is planning to set up an exclusive selection board for recruitment to all arms of the police, keeping Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) away.

The groundwork for setting up the board is reportedly under way. The Home Department has delegated a three-member panel of Additional Secretaries to explore the possibilities of forming the new board.

The initial proposal was to form an autonomous board similar to the Devaswom Recruitment Board set up for hiring administrative staff for the Devaswoms. Significantly, the move has come at a time when more and more government departments, universities and public sector undertakings are mounting pressure on the government to entrust their recruitment with the commission.

Government sources told

The Hindu here that the Home Department panel had reported that the constitution of the board may lead to practical problems since it would raise questions about the transparency of the recruitment process.

Managing a huge volume of applications for posts such as civil police officer and sub inspector would also be a tough task to handle. However, the government is learnt to be keen on forming the board and is likely to seek other options for crystallising its proposal.

Earlier proposal

A similar proposal mooted during the tenure of K. Karunakaran as Chief Minister had to be shelved in the face of stiff opposition from the public and youth organisations. Though the board is being constituted for appointments to the police alone in the initial stage, the chances of bringing the entire range of unformed forces such as Excise, Fire and Rescue Services and the forest protection staff within its ambit in due course could not be ruled out, sources said.

In the wake of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala’s demand to increase the efficacy of the police and infuse young blood into the forces, the commission had switched on to an annual selection mode for all uniformed forces.

Sources said that despite financial constraints due to curbs imposed by the Finance Department and lack of infrastructure facilities, the commission has been continuing recruitment to the uniformed forces without any delay. Sources apprehend that stripping the commission of its role in police recruitment may set the ground for corruption and nepotism.