Staff shortage hits PSC working

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The severe shortage of staff in the Kerala Public Service Commission is affecting the verification  of certificates of the employees who are awaiting regularisation of their appointments, according to PSC Employees Association.  The PSC had made verification mandatory for regularisation after the PSC appointment scam in  Wayanad was unearthed.  It was pointed out that at the Accountant- General’s Office, transfers and mutual transfers would be effected only if appointments were regularised.  The PSC had been complaining of severe shortage of staff for over a decade.  According to a memorandum by the PSC Employees Association, submitted to the PSC sub- committee, around 140 new posts have to be created for effectively conducting the verification alone.Association president A K Sadiq and general secretary P Satheesh Kumar said in the memorandum that around 25,000 appointments had to be verified immediately. The PSC’s decision was to  verify the appointments that were made in the last 10 years. Citing that candidates now have to wait for hours at the headquarters for verification and interview, the Association called for setting up a creche and clinic facility at the headquarters. According to the Association, there is an urgent need for creating 321 posts - 131 at the headquarters, 36 in zonal offices and 154 in the district offices.