Efforts on to "tarnish" image of state PSC: Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram : Defending the functioning of the Kerala Public Service Commission, which has come under flak from the opposition over various 'irregularities', Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday alleged that efforts were on to tarnish its image.

This, he alleged, was part of a larger conspiracy "to "destroy the country's Constitutional institutions".

"The move to tarnish the image and credibility of the Kerala Public Service Commission cannot be accepted," he told reporters here.

The Congress and BJP had raised charges of irregularities in PSC's functioning after two students of the University college here, accused of stabbing another, were found ranked first and 28th in its rank-list for Civil Police officers.

"The PSC has been functioning with high credibility. Maybe this was to blame the government. But this attempt to tarnish the image of PSC will create a misunderstanding and dissatisfaction among the youth," Vijayan said.

The government and the Commission were ready to accept criticism and make corrections, if necessary, he said.

"Some people are attempting to destroy the Constitutional institutions of our country. In this case, the move was to destroy the PSC, an organisation which functions with high credibility," Vijayan said adding that the PSC was a model for the rest of the country.

"PSC selects employees for 1,742 categories to over 100 departments, Public Sector Undertaking, courts, from the last grade to the Deputy Collector.

While other states delegate the valuation process or the conduct of the exam to a third party, it was not so in Kerala, he said.

It was due to PSC's credibility that successive governments had given more responsibilities to PSC, he said.

In the wake of the charges, PSC Chairman M K Sakeer, who had been summoned by Governor P Sathasivam, had met him Monday and clarified about the process followed in the examination.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennnithala described as unfortunate, the Chief Minister's decision to not order a Crime Branch inquiry into the charges.

The PSC has ordered an internal vigilance probe into the allegations.

"The PSC's internal investigation wing has its limitations.

The commission's credibility should not be hit, which was why we sought a proper investigation so that the PSC could come clean in front of the public," Chennithala said, adding it was the CPI(M) which was trying to "destroy" the PSC.