Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly that the government saw no reason to extend the validity of PSC rank lists beyond August 4.
It hoped to fill all available vacancies from the current list before it expired. The government had extended the validity of lists by six months on February 5.
Mr. Vijayan was replying to a submission moved by Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan. His statement came against the backdrop of a fresh round of protests by PSC rank holders who feared the expiry of the rank lists on August 4 would extinguish their hope for a government job.
The Chief Minister said the pandemic had hobbled the PSC's ability to conduct competitive tests in a time-bound manner.
However, the PSC's delay would not affect reporting of openings caused by retirement and promotion.
Mr. Vijayan had chaired a meeting of government secretaries to ensure that vacancies are reported punctually. The administration would penalise department heads who failed to report openings to the PSC in time.
The government had also asked department heads to report vacancies held up by seniority disputes, court cases and absence of staff eligible for promotion. A panel headed by the Chief Secretary would resolve such disputes expediently to open up government jobs for PSC candidates.
For one, the panel would give interim promotion in disputed cases to create vacancies for eligible candidates.
The government has created an online system for reporting jobs. The administrative vigilance will examine whether there is any delay or error in reporting openings. The vigilance will conduct surprise inspections at offices to ensure department heads fall in line with the government diktat in the matter.
The previous LDF government had created 20,000 new posts in health and police departments. The PSC published 4.223 rank lists between 2016 and 2021.
The government was resolved to fill vacancies only through the PSC. It would soon revive PSC examinations and interviews delayed by the pandemic.
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