Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

NSS asks PSC to avoid bias

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Nair Service Society (NSS) has said that the appointment of employees in government service through the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) under the existing rules should actually be conducted in units of 20 candidates each for deciding the share of posts that should be set apart for those under the merit quota and those under the reservation quota.

In a press release issued from the NSS headquarters in Changanasserry on Tuesday, its assistant secretary G. Sukumaran Nair noted that the Kerala High Court, in a case relating to the appointment of Ayurveda medical officers recently, had ruled that the actual number of vacancies at a given time should be taken as a unit.

This would greatly damage the interests of the candidates who had received postings under the merit quota, he said.

The PSC had chosen to remain silent in the matter, although it should have appealed against such a court order that was not in conformity with the existing rules, he said.

The PSC should actually uphold the interests of all sections of the people. Its very credibility as a secular institution had come under a cloud because of its disinclination to go in appeal against the court order, Mr. Sukumaran Nair said.

The NSS had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the High Court order. The Supreme Court had subsequently sent to the PSC a notice seeking its response to the special leave petition.

The existing rules relating to appointments in government service through the PSC would not in any way affect the interests of candidates from the reservation categories adversely.

If, due to any reason, sufficient number of candidates from the reservation categories was not available for appointment under the reservation quota, there was already a provision for issuing a special recruitment notification for them, Mr. Sukumaran Nair noted.

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