Appointment of Vijayadas' son gets caught in legal tangle

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The High Court on Monday issued an order quashing the compassionate appointment of R Prasanth, son of late Chengannur MLA KK Ramachandran Nair, to the post of assistant engineer (electric) in the Public Works Department. Following this, the appointment of KV Sandeep, son of former MLA KV Vijayadas, as an auditor in Palakkad has also come under the legal scanner.

On July 28, Sandeep, a graduate, was appointed to a post that went vacant due to retirement on the recommendation of Palakkad Collector. An order regarding the appointment was issued based on a cabinet decision. CPM leader Vijayadas had served as an MLA for Kongad from 2011 till his death in 2021.

As per law, only dependents of those who die while in government service can be assigned to government departments. Appointments can be made to existing or upcoming vacancies in Class-3 and Class-4 posts in the department where the deceased was employed. The High Court has also directed that only five per cent of the total vacancies in the departments should be filled
this way every year. Applicants for general posts are now being recruited on a merit basis, including technical posts.

The Pay Revision Commission, after examining the appointments for 2017-2020, had found that compassionate appointments were being made in violation of the five per cent limit. 68 (13.20%) out of the 515 appointments made in the Thiruvananthapuram Collectorate were compassionate appointments. Similarly, 28 out of 209 appointments made in the Directorate of Employment (13.40%), 5 out of 35 appointments made in Sanskrit University (14.29%) and 18 out of 131 appointments made in the Legislative Secretariat (13.74%) were also compassionate appointments. When obtaining a compassionate appointment, consent must be given stating that the employee's parents and heirs will be protected for life and siblings will be protected until they reach the age of majority.

Government to file appeal

Government sources said that the government will file an appeal against the High Court order as the apex court has ruled that the government has the right to make compassionate appointments. An appeal is pending against the High Court order not to exceed the 5 per cent limit of the total vacancies. The dependents of the Scheduled Caste people who die due to violence are given jobs as per the decision of the cabinet.

1968- Compassionate appointments made by the Oommen Chandy government

646- Compassionate appointments made by the first Pinarayi government till July 2020