Kerala PSC row escalates, BJP’s Yuva Morcha announces statewide protest

Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (IANS) The controversy over alleged irregularities in the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) is set to intensify, with the BJP youth wing, Yuva Morcha, announcing a statewide agitation from Tuesday, adding to the pressure already mounted by the Congress’s youth organisations and turning the recruitment controversy into a full-blown political battle.

The Youth Congress has been staging protests demanding a judicial probe into the alleged manipulation of PSC recruitments.

Announcing the agitation, Yuva Morcha State President V. Manu Prasad accused the previous Left government of presiding over what he described as a systematic subversion of the PSC to benefit ruling party functionaries and their associates, at the expense of lakhs of job aspirants who spend years preparing for competitive examinations.

The BJP youth leader alleged that recruitment examinations were manipulated by framing more than 50 questions with Option B as the correct answer to favour select candidates.

He also cited the Fisheries Department recruitment examination, claiming that more than 30 of the 42 candidates selected were activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) from a single college, which, he alleged, pointed to organised manipulation of the recruitment process.

Recalling the earlier controversy involving the accused in the University College attempted murder case, who figured among the top ranks in the police recruitment list, Manu Prasad said successive controversies reflected a failure to cleanse the PSC system.

Demanding a completely independent probe, he said an internal inquiry ordered lacked credibility and was intended only to shield those responsible.

He called upon the PSC Chairman and members allegedly involved in the irregularities to resign on moral grounds, failing which the government should initiate legal proceedings to remove them.

The Yuva Morcha leader also criticised both the LDF and the UDF for defeating a BJP MLA’s demand in the Assembly to adopt an official resolution on the PSC controversy. However, the party maintained that sustained public pressure was now essential to restore the credibility of Kerala’s premier recruitment agency.

–IANS

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