Opposition UDF stages walkout in Kerala assembly over 'backdoor appointments'

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 12: The Opposition Congress-led UDF on Tuesday lashed out at the LDF government in the Kerala Assembly over the alleged backdoor appointments and attempts to make permanent the contract staff en masse in various state-run institutions and later staged a walkout even though Chief Minister Pinarayi VIjayan denied the charges.

The opposition claimed the governmenthad made double the number of temporary appointments than the total number of recruitment by the state Public Service Commission (PSC), the apex recruitment agency in the southern state.
They also released a letter written by the state Film Academy Chairman, Kamal to Cultural Affairs Minister, AK Balan reportedly requesting that contract employees having leaning towards Marxist ideology in the institution be made permanent to maintain the Left leaning nature of the institution.

Rejecting the charges raised in the adjournment motion, the Chief Minister, however, said the opposition was trying to create a smokescreen on the government appointments. The Left government had taken a firm stand that all appointments should be made in a transparent manner without any corruption.

"Steps are being taken to report as many vacancies as possible to the PSC, the constitutional body, and thereby make appointments," Vijayan told the Assembly. According to the latest available data, 1,51,513 persons have been given either appointment or issued advisory memo through the PSC, he said.

Listing details of appointments in various government institutions, he said 27,000 permanent vacancies in various government institutions had been created after the Left front government came to power. This includes 5,985 new vacancies and appointments in the health and social justice department, 4,933 appointments in police departments, 721 in the higher education sector and so on, he said.

Stating that making permanent those persons who have worked in an institution for decades was a 'humanitarian consideration', the chief minister said they were not part of any particular political front and the previous UDF government also did the same thing.

Moving the motion, Shafi Parambil (Congress) alleged Kerala had become the graveyard of PSC rank lists and the 'Public Service Commission had become the 'party service commission'. Alleging thatover one lakhpeople had been appointed through the backdoor by the LDF government and otheragencies, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told reporters outside the House that the appointments had been made in at least 42 PSUs, besides government and semi-government institutions.

These appointments have been made even as the government's term is almost over, thus cheating the jobless PSC (Public Service Commission ) rank holders, Chennithala claimed. When this government came to power, it had promised five lakh jobs in a year,he said, alleging now they are cheating people.