(Special Story)
(By Mukundan C. Menon)

The Kerala Public Service Commission, already in thick of controversy for its past anti-reservation roles, is once again drawing attention since all the three posts which fell vacant were filled with LDF nominees by E. K. Nayanar Government on the eve of forthcoming polls. Not a single one among the CPM and CPI nominees belong to Dalit or backward segments.

In order to usher the CPM policy of creamy layer and income-based reservation to deny reservation benefits for marginalised castes and communities, the Nayanar government has been utilising the Public Service Commission during the past five years. It had instituted the Joseph Commission to identify the creamy layer among BCs by probing into representation of marginalised social segments in government services during 1991-96. However, the PSC had misinformed the Commission by giving false figures of those whom it recommended for various posts. According to the PSC list submitted to Joseph Commission in May 1997, it had recommended a total of 72,491 candidates of whom 34,245 belong to the general merit category, 29,336 to BCs, and 8,910 to SC/STs.

Since reservation posts should not be more than 50 per cent of total posts, the falsified information given by PSC showed that a total of 38,246 reservation candidates had secured jobs between 1991-96. This means that 2,000 excess persons had secured job beyond the reservation quota limit of 50 per cent. Accordingly, the Joseph Commission report said that candidates from reservation quota were over-represented in around 80 government departments.

Following widespread protests, the Nayanar government instituted Justice K. K. Narendran Commission to identify representation of reservation candidates appointed to government services during 1997 and 1998. However, despite repeated reminders, the PSC authorities refused to provide the details to Narendran Commission for long. Finally, when the list was given, the total recommendation made by PSC from among the reservation candidates of various categories far exceeded than the actual appointments. It was widely alleged that the PSC had executed these roles towards Joseph and Narendran Commissions under the covert and overt influence of LDF government, especially of CPM leaders.

The following table illustrates PSC's artificial figures submitted to Narendran Commission on total reservation candidates from different social segments whom they claimed to have recommended for appointments, and the actual number of candidates who got jobs during 1997 and 1998:-

NAME OF RESERVED CASTES	YEAR
	1997		1998
	PSC Claim	Actual Appointments	PSC Claim	Actual Appointments
I)Backward Communities a) Ezhavas b)Viswakarmas c) Dheevaras d) Nadars	4190 758 343 525	2241 459 232 366	3667 593 236 428	1888 386 132 275
II) OBCs	1426	630	1070	428
III) Scheduled Castes	2633	2168	2341	1756
IV) Scheduled Tribes	624	510	377	255