Thiruvananthapuram: The Pinarayi Vijayan government was forced to stop the regularisation of contract employees ahead of completion of its tenure in the face of mounting opposition to the move and its political implications in an election year. A cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to stop the controversial move, although the appointments made so far would stay.
The cabinet reviewed the developing situation and observed that although the entire process was transparent, the opposition parties were creating confusion and misunderstanding about the appointments.
The protesting PSC rank-holders and the political parties backing them, however, rejected the government gesture, demanding that all backdoor appointments made so far be also cancelled. Two Youth Congress MLAs staging a fast in support of the job aspirants described the government decision as an eye wash and a bid to hoodwink the public.
Opposition leaders claimed that the government was forced to come down on its knees following the intense heat due to the agitation, which has shown signs of snowballing into a major political issue.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told newspersons in the evening that the cabinet decided to create 3051 new posts in various government departments and semi-government institutions. With this, the total number of new posts created by the LDF government has gone up to 30,000, Vijayan said.
The chief minister justified the regularisation of contract employees, saying it was based on clear criteria and based on humanitarian considerations. He insisted that the appointments were in positions which were outside the purview of PSC and as such the rank-holders have no legitimate claim to these jobs.
He accused the opposition of politicising the issue deliberately to create ill-will towards the government and advised the agitators not to be misled by the opposition propaganda. He asked the protesters to consider the plight of people who would suddenly find themselves jobless after working in their respective positions for 10 years and more.
Some of Pinaryi Vijayan’s ministerial colleagues claimed that the decision to stop further regularisation of contract employees was not due to the agitation of the rank-holders. But irrespective of such assertions, the fact is that the leaders of the ruling front constituents were increasingly getting worried over the public perception about the strike and its implications for the elections.
CPI-M central committee member M V Govindan claimed that the Congress party and the Youth Congress were infiltrating into the agitation with a view to create disorder in the state. At the same time, he indicated the possibility of the government opening negotiations with the strikers, who are demanding that the government talk to them directly without involving any political parties.
