The High Court has stayed the Kerala government's move to regularise the temporary employees of Kerala Bank today. Amidst the ongoing protest, the government’s move was to regularise1,850 contract employees.
Kerala Bank’s board of directors was scheduled to convene a meeting tomorrow. However, the High Court’s decision comes ahead of the meeting. The verdict was based on a plea filed by a Kannur native, who is also a candidate in the PSC rank list, questioning the government’s action. The government has argued that there was no plan to regularise temporary employees in Kerala Bank. However, the petitioner produced letters relating to the regularisation move.
The High Court has also rejected the contention that the employees in the posts, which were not under the Public Service Commission were being made permanent. The court case, which has stayed the follow-up proceedings for regularisation, will be heard in detail later.
Also, the Cabinet has decided to regularise 221 more posts, 100 in KTDC, 37 in Youth Welfare Board and 14 in Co-operative Academy. In addition, 140 posts have been introduced to start Wayanad Medical College. The Cabinet's decision to regularise those in temporary posts have disappointed the PSC candidates who are eagerly waiting for jobs. According to reports, the Chief Minister had said that the temporary candidates in the PSC list should not be made permanent.
It is very evident that the government is turning its back on the candidates who were staging a protest to get a job. The agitation was due to the failure of today’s special Cabinet meeting to extend the PSC rank list and expedite the appointment. Even a few protests against the backdoor appointments culminated in clashes.
Some of the candidates who staged protests burst into tears. Meanwhile, the protest march organised by the Youth Congress to Kozhikode Collectorate also turned violent. The police even fired water cannons at protestors who all tried to break the barricade. There were lathi-charges too. As the government was not able to address their concerns, the protesters have decided to intensify their agitation.
