THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Social Justice Minister M K Muneer has sought the Public Service Commission’s opinion on filling the physically handicapped (PH) backlog as per the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act 1996 and on making appointments from the existing rank lists if the reservation roster of 1,34 and 67 is to be followed on the basis of the Government of India office memorandum and the Supreme Court of India ruling in this regard.
“The PSC has lost several cases in the Kerala High Court concerning PH reservation cases. In January 2016, the PSC’s appeal was quashed by the High Court, wherein the PSC was directed to consider PH backlogs from 1996. There was another judgment in 2014, in which Justice Vinod Chandran ordered the PSC to consider 1,34 and 67 in WP(C) 7932 of 2014.
Considering the fact that the PSC has repeatedly been losing its cases before the KAT and High Court, it will have to take the proposals of the SJD positively.
The points to be heavily debated will be the evaluation of the PH backlog from 1996 for Class 3 and 4 categories. But the task being a laborious one, the PSC might cite certain constrains on identifying the backlog in all rank lists published from 1996.
K Madhu, the number one ranked PH candidate in the current list of deputy collectors who has been fighting for the cause of PH candidates for long, says that the first deputy collector recruitment by the Kerala PSC was in 1989. The PSC had advised 17 deputy collectors between 1996 and 2014. This results in one PH backlog. After that, from the present rank list which was published in 2014, the PSC advised 16 more. Not even one PH has been advised till date although the PWD Act and the law of the land ensure so.
“Unfortunately, the Department of Land Revenue did 660 promotional appointments between 1996 and 2013. As per the special rules, every four promotion recruitments should succeed one direct recruitment. That means 132 (20 per cent of 660) vacancies were not reported to the PSC. Even then not even one PH reservation was executed,” he says.
Joint Secretary I V Anna John told ‘Express’ that the PSC would stand by the PWD Act, Supreme Court rulings and the relevant laws of the land positively.
“The PSC being a constitutional body, it has to abide by the rules prepared by the state government. Even if the Government of India office memorandum and the Supreme Court rulings are there, the PSC will have to act as per the existing rules. But the state government cannot overlook the Supreme Court rulings and the PWD Act,” she says.
What the Law Dept Says
According to the Law Department, several appointments in Class III and Class IV were made not by the PSC. Till 2004, it was the district collectors who directly recruited the handicapped in the Class III and Class IV posts.
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