The largesse doled out to Kerala PSC members
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It has been ten days since the state's ASHA workers, who have been the front line warriors for their fellow citizens during the pandemic and landslide disasters, when hardworking people were afraid to go out, regardless of whether it was a scorching summer or a pouring rain, began their strike in Kerala;'s capital city, clamouring for an increase in their honorarium. Their demand is for an increase in the monthly honorarium of Rs 7,000, which has been in force since 2018. The government's stance is that while the service of ASHA workers is excellent, the state treasury is not in a position to increase their salaries. It is an undeniable fact that the state is going through a major financial crisis while the Centre keeps squeezing funds. Although the ministers' extravagance and house renovations are still going without pause, the government is citing the same reason for the delay in paying salaries, honorariums, pensions of KSRTC employees, social security pensions, the withholding of scholarships for minority students, and even the delay in providing funds for providing mid-day meals to children. But the same government that has not been willing to increase social security pensions, pay arrears of pensions, or pay food allowance to sportspersons for eight months has now decided to make a sharp increase in the salaries of the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman and members.
Amidst the constant complaints of not having enough money even for day-to-day needs, and having no other option but to borrow, the salary hike for the civil servants is at a record rate. The revised salary for the chairman will be equated to the maximum amount on the super time scale of a district judge and the salary of the members will be equivalent to the maximum amount in the selection grade scale of district judges. There will be a proportional increase in pension and other benefits. It is reported that the issue of giving retrospective effect since 2016, when the PSC started demanding an increase, will also be considered. The proposal which was approved the other day was deferred several times before, citing the financial crisis. At present, the chairman’s salary which is Rs 2.26 lakh, will increase to Rs 3.50 lakh. The salary of the members will rise from Rs 2.23 lakh to Rs 3.25 lakh. The pension of the chairman will increase from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh and that of the members from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh. The state PSC has 21 members including the chairman. There is a vacancy of one member. The term is six years or 62 years whichever is earlier. Even the states which are many times the size of Kerala and its population, and even the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), do not have half as many members as the Kerala PSC. It is also important to remember that Kerala is a state that is lagging behind in terms of appointments too. The rank lists that are cancelled without making appointments would testify to this. The number of posts is decreasing due to online transactions and modernization. In spite of these, the number of PSC members is increasing. The PSC is also a haven for rehabilitating and resettling politicians or their cronies as there is no specific qualification prescribed for their appointment. Becoming a PSC member is also a big deal as one will get benefits like a high salary, pension, first-class travel, services f a PA, driver, medical treatment including for dependents, and a car and house for the chairman. It has not been long since allegations and uproar surfaced that lakhs of rupees were taken after promising PSC membership. It is natural for interested parties to come forward to become a PSC member by spending a huge amount of money since what they would get is a hefty salary and benefits.
Most of the PSC members are currently completely political representatives. Even the party that does not have enough members in the whole state to fill a bus has representation. The party leaders themselves had clarified that the reason for a split in the party the previous year was the 'sale' of a PSC member position allotted to the party. It is because of this kind of representation that even the idealists in the ruling party did not object to such compensations to the members of the PSC, whose efficiency and transparency have been widely questioned in recent years. This is also true as we have seen that the leaders of the ruling student organisation at Thiruvananthapuram University College, who were implicated in the stabbing case, ascended to the top of the police constable rank list by manipulating the exam, and cyber hackers stole the user IDs and passwords of 65 lakh job candidates from the PSC server and sold them in the dark web. At a time when the future of Kerala's youth and job-seekers is at risk, the government's decision to raise salaries despite economic hardships must be opposed.
