Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 10 (IANS) The conspicuous silence of the CPI(M)’s student and youth wings, SFI and DYFI, over the grave irregularities in a Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) examination has raised questions about their credibility, particularly as the controversy now threatens to engulf the constitutional recruitment body.
The latest revised rank list for the controversial State Planning Board examination places Shyam Krishnan, who fought a legal battle over evaluation lapses, first. Arun J. Prathap, a known Left fellow traveller who topped the original list and secured the appointment, has slipped to fifth.
The PSC is now set to initiate steps to appoint Shyam Krishnan and cancel the appointment recommendation issued to Prathap. However, the fact that the latter has been in service for over a year could trigger another legal battle.
What has raised eyebrows is the silence of SFI and DYFI on the alleged irregularities, even as the Crime Branch investigation gathers momentum and the High Court has come down heavily on the PSC.
The present 16-member commission, comprising the chairman and 15 members, was appointed by the previous Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government. The recruitment process was also initiated during its tenure.
The two organisations, which have often taken to the streets over alleged favouritism and irregular appointments whenever the Congress-led UDF government is in office, have not mounted a comparable campaign over the PSC controversy.
Their silence is particularly striking when the revised list has pushed down a candidate who secured the job through the original list and elevated the complainant who challenged the evaluation process.
Only recently, a Left feeder organisation staged a protest over the contractual appointment of the wife of a Congress leader in a state-run organisation.
The contrast between that response and the silence over the PSC episode has prompted questions about whether the organisations are applying the same standards to alleged irregularities involving their own political camp.
The controversy has taken a serious turn with the ongoing Crime Branch probe uncovering further alleged irregularities in appointments made by the state’s premier recruitment agency.
Earlier this week, the Kerala High Court questioned whether the failure to evaluate answers carrying 58 marks in the Planning Board examination amounted to blatant corruption. It stressed that lakhs of job aspirants depended on the PSC and that their faith in the institution had to be protected.
The government has opposed the PSC’s claim that the lapse was merely a clerical or technical error. It has argued that the failure to evaluate the answers could indicate deliberate manipulation.
More than 150 complaints against the PSC have also been brought to the court’s notice. The PSC has challenged the Crime Branch investigation before the High Court.
The probe is examining whether the evaluation failure was inadvertent or intended to benefit particular candidates.
–IANS
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