Government ignores calls to extend duration of rank lists for uniform posts, sparks protests

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The authorities have not responded to the candidates' demand to extend the duration of the rank list for uniform posts to at least two years. Previously, the tenure of rank lists for positions like Civil Police Officer, Civil Excise Officer and Fire Force was three years but it was later reduced to one year, following a high-level recommendation aimed at injecting young blood into the forces. Candidates argue that giving only one year to the rank list, which takes three years to prepare is not practical.

Moreover, the government rejected the Public Service Commission's recommendation that it would be challenging to make appointments to the trained uniformed services within one year and suggested extending the tenure of the lists to two years.

The Public Service Commission spends approximately one and a quarter crore rupees to prepare the rank list for a uniform post yet the number of appointments made from these lists is limited. For instance, only 4,453 appointments were made from the recently canceled Civil Police Officer rank list. The most recent Civil Police Officer rank list, published last week, included only 6,647 candidates across seven battalions, exacerbating tensions as protests intensified.

A candidate named Anu from Karakkonam, Neyyatinkara, committed suicide in 2020 after not securing a job when his name remained on the excise rank list beyond its expiration. Since then, thousands of candidates gather before the secretariat each year, hoping to navigate the final stages of the uniform rank list.