Thiruvananthapuram, April 19 -- Those preparing for the state Public Service Commission (PSC) tests should first learn how to protest, is the advice given by the women CPO rank list holders, who have been protesting outside the Secretariat here for the last 18 days seeking appointment orders, to future government job aspirants in the state. The advice came from the protesting Women Civil Police Officer (WCPO) candidates on Saturday -- the last day till when their rank lists are valid. While the state government reportedly gave appointment orders recently to around 45 rank list holders, including a few who are among the protesters, hundreds of candidates still remain in the list which is set to expire on April 19. "We would like to tell those who are preparing for the PSC tests that you should first know how to protest, where the AKG centre (CPI-M party headquarters) is located and which officials you have to beg, before writing the exams," one of the protestors told a TV channel.
Another WCPO candidate said they were hurt by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's recent remark at a press conference that only those eligible can be granted appointment orders. "We cleared the written test and the physical exam, yet the CM is saying we are not eligible," she told the media. Responding to reporters' queries regarding the protest, CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan said the state can induct people into service only on the basis of the existing laws and rules. "Merely because some WCPO candidates came here and protested or held a hunger strike, the laws and rules regarding appointments cannot be changed," he said. Taking a similar stand, CPI(M) central committee member P K Sreemathi told reporters here that the WCPO candidates were being "stubborn". She claimed that the protestors were not trying to understand that the government has done what it can in the matter and therefore, continuing with their agitation was not right. The protesting WCPO candidates said they were disappointed by Sreemathi's remarks.
On the other hand, Congress MLA P C Vishnunadh said while the CM had made announcements of increasing the strength of the police, it was not done and on top of that appointment orders were not being given to the WCPO rank list holders who had cleared written exams, physical tests and interviews. Meanwhile, the Kerala Council of Churches has come to the aid of the protesting WCPO candidates with offers of jobs in some startups by one of their affiliated organisations. A KCC representative told the TV channel that jobs would be offered to as many of the protesting candidates as possible and at the same salaries that they would have received on being recruited as WCPOs. The women CPO rank list holders have been staging the protest alleging that the government is willfully ignoring the rank list as only a few persons have received appointment from the list which came into existence in 2022. During their 18-day long protest, they held various forms of demonstrations like collecting their blood to write the message "Save WCPO 585/2022," performing a mime, crawling on the footpath and standing on one leg with folded hands. Of the 967 candidates on the list, only about 30 per cent have received advice memos (recommendation letters) from the PSC, and just 213 have joined the service so far. The protesting rank holders have alleged that the government has failed to fulfill its promise of increasing women's representation in the state police force.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.