THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the government's decision not to extend the validity of PSC rank lists, KPCC president K Sudhakaran termed him a 'cheat' on Thursday. Sudhakaran alleged that the government is reluctant to extend the validity of PSC rank lists in order to facilitate backdoor appointments and nepotism. Talking to reporters at Indira Bhavan, Sudhakaran also urged the Left government to review its decision making COVID-19 certificates mandatory for visiting shops.
A day after the PSC rank lists expired, Sudhakaran questioned the government's reluctance to extend their validity. Listing out the names of CPM leaders whose kith and kin got government jobs, Sudhakaran said backdoor appointments have been going on. He recalled how former higher education minister KT Jaleel's relative and Left MLA AN Shamseer's wife had to forgo their appointments following the Opposition's intervention.
"To a certain extent, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is a cheat. Otherwise he could have taken steps to keep the LDF government's promise to thousands of job aspirants included in PSC rank lists. The LDF government has dashed the hopes of youngsters. I do not know what Pinarayi will gain by taking such a stubborn stand. I was taken aback by Pinarayi's decision to appeal against the Thiruvananthapuram Administrative Tribunal's verdict," said Sudhakaran.
At a time when the state government had drawn flak from many quarters for coming out with a new set of guidelines, as per which visitors should possess either COVID-19 vaccination certificates or RT-PCR negative certificates, Sudhakaran urged the government to reconsider its decision. "The irony is that if an invidual needs to visit a shop, he or she should prodcuce a COVID-19 certificate. But a person who visits the beverages counter does not have to produce the same. Also the state government has failed to provide adequate numbers of vaccine to people," added Sudhakaran.
He also congratulated the Indian hockey team and Malayali goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who played a crucial role in winning the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.