Stating that the Public Service Commission (PSC) had sent advise memos to more than 30,000 job- aspirants during the COVID-19 pandemic period from February last year till Wednesday, PSC Chairman M.K. Sakeer said here on Wednesday that appointments had been made in all rank lists as per vacancies.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sakeer said the PSC had followed Article 13 of the PSC Rules of Procedure 1976 regarding extension of 493 rank lists.
“The maximum time period for a rank list is three years. The rules do not allow selective extension for any specific list. Such extension would rob the opportunities for lakhs of aspirants who are aiming for the vacancies that are arising after the expiry of the existing lists. The PSC approached the High Court regarding the Kerala Administrative Tribunal order to extend a rank list, as it goes against existing PSC rules. It was not a confrontation with the rank holders. The High Court also approved this,” said Mr. Sakeer.
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Comparitive figures
Presenting comparative figures of appointments over the past decade, he said that 10,434 advice memos were issued out of 35,361 job-seekers on the current Lower Division Clerk Rank list (29.28%), while 11,452 out of 46,687 (23.52%) were appointed from the 2015 rank list and 11,830 out of 56,807 (20.82%) in the 2012 list. An additional 1,401 vacancies have also been reported now from the current list, which would take the percentage even higher.
He said that the protesting job-aspirants themselves should be aware of the rules as they will have to work within these in the future. The High Courts and the Supreme Court have in the past observed that not everyone who is included on a rank list will get appointment.
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Opportunity to improve
Five times the available number of openings are included on the rank list, to ensure adequate representation for reservation categories and considering the number of people who will not take up the offer. Those rank holders who have not got an appointment from the expired list certainly have an opportunity to improve their position in the next one, said Mr. Sakeer.
Thirty lakh aspirants have written the PSC preliminary examinations for the Class X level this year. The preliminary results will be announced in August end in 192 different categories. The final examination will be in November and the rank lists would be published not later than December.
The Kerala Administrative Service will be come a reality on November 1. The interviews are expected to be completed in September over three weeks, by following all COVID-19 restrictions, he said.