THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has turned out to be a false sunrise for the handicapped in the state. The Law Department’s observation that the PSC recruitment process should be restructured in favour of the handicapped has met with stiff resistance from other departments.
It was on December 1, 2015 that the Law Department officially advised the state government to refine the State PSC’s rotation pattern in a manner beneficial to handicapped candidates, from 33:66:99 to 1:34:64.
Meaning, the first advice memo should go to the highest ranked handicapped person in the rank list when vacancies are reported in a department, unlike in the existing scenario where the highest ranked handicapped candidate gets a call only for the 33rd vacancy.
However, most of the state departments, to whom the Law Department’s directive has been sent for their remarks, have opposed the move.
“It has always been the state government stand that the first person to be invited should be the person who has secured the first rank in the merit list,” a top official said.
"If we allow this, then the government will have no choice but to accede to the growing demands of SC and ST communities,” he added. It is not as if the handicapped community has made an unreasonable demand. The Centre
has been following the 1:34:64 rotation policy since 2005.
The Supreme Court, too, in a 2013 order, had asked states to ensure three per cent reservation for the handicapped in government jobs and also to follow the 1:34:64 pattern.
There was also an office memorandum issued by the Centre on March 20, 2014, which directed all government departments to implement the Supreme Court order within three months.
What’s more, the law officer in the Office of the Resident Commissioner, Kerala, had directed the state to implement the Supreme Court order without fail. The officer also warned that the non-observance of the scheme of reservation for persons with disabilities would be considered as “an act of non-obedience”.
