Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says government will address mismatch between PSC rank list and job openings

Replying to a submission on the recent agitation by PSC rank holders in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan said the government had tasked the Justice Dineshan Commission with suggesting means to rectify the anomaly

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday told the Assembly that the gaping mismatch between the limited number of job openings available with the government and the high number of job aspirants who figured on PSC rank lists routinely had precipitated confusion and distress among a section of youth.

Replying to a submission on the recent agitation by PSC rank holders in front of the Secretariat, Mr. Vijayan said the government had tasked the Justice Dineshan Commission with suggesting means to rectify the anomaly.

Ideally, the PSC rank list should balance the openings available in the government. A limited number of jobs and a jumbo rank list could fuel disappointment and unrest, he said.

The PSC included at least five times more than the openings available while drawing up the rank list based on public test performance.

Reservation norms

The PSC also followed the reservation norms in giving advice memos to selected candidates. Hence, the government could not provide placement to all persons in a PSC rank list.

However, it could accommodate a maximum number of eligible candidates in government posts by ensuring that department heads reported vacancies in time to the PSC.

The LDF government had put an online system for departments to report vacancies arising from retirement and promotion in real-time to the PSC.

Moreover, it had put in place administrative mechanisms to settle disputes over seniority, promotion, long-term leave and retirement to ensure more government posts were freed up for fresh recruitment via the PSC. It had created new positions, including vacancies for women officers, in the State's law enforcement, said the Chief Minister.