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Journalism of Courage
As protests against illegal appointments in Kerala continue, the state government last week informed the Assembly that no compiled data is available on temporary appointments made in various departments.
The issue came to the fore recently after CPI(M) leader and Thiruvananthapuram city mayor Arya Rajendran allegedly sought a list of party cadres from the leadership for appointments to 295 posts in the municipal corporation. Subsequently, it was found that several illegal appointments had been made in government as well as quasi-government departments of the state.
Protesting against the CPI(M)-led government, the Congress and the BJP have demanded Rajendran’s resignation over the alleged bid to recruit party cadres to government jobs, and blamed the ruling party for undermining the Employment Exchange, the agency meant for making temporary appointments in state departments.
On December 12, Opposition legislator K K Rama had sought details such as the number of employees in various departments, including those on deputation and those appointed through employment exchanges and other means. She also sought a breakup of temporary/contract employees in various government departments, including local self-government bodies. In a separate query, the legislator wanted the government to reveal the norms adopted for temporary/contract appointments.
In a written reply to Rama’s questions, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “No details on such appointments, which are made across Kerala, have been collected,’’ adding that “temporary/contract appointments are made by respective departments for short term after sticking to norms.”
In a separate reply, the government informed the Assembly that the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council, (K-DISC), a strategic think-tank and advisory body set up in 2021, had appointed 235 people on temporary/contractual basis against its current strength of 262. A few people had also been recruited on a daily basis with a payment of Rs 11,000 per day for a maximum of 20 days in a month.
The temporary recruitments by K-DISC have happened at a time the state employment exchange has 1.28 lakh unemployed professionals on its live register. Since 2021, when the CPI(M) came to power for a second time, only 1,349 professionally qualified persons have been appointed in various departments through the employment exchange. Incidentally, the list of government bodies and institutions which have recruited these professionals, does not include K-DISC.
