Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 (IANS): The ruling Left front in Kerala has been questioned by the Opposition over the government postings, which the latter has termed as 'backdoor postings'.
The youth wing of CPM, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has backed the postings by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, saying they were done under humanitarian considerations.
This has come as a complete contrast to DYFI's earlier stance as in the past, it had conducted several agitations against the previous UDF government led by Oommen Chandy over such postings.
In a press conference, the DYFI said the postings were implemented for those who had completed 10 years on temporary service, and that they were done in categories and posts where the recruitment was not through the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Reacting to this, Youth Congress state president and Member of Kerala Legislative assembly Shafi Parambil told IANS: "The DYFI had shed blood in the streets of Kerala citing discrepancies during UDF government period and has taken a clear summersault on these postings as those close to several DYFI leaders got postings through backdoor.
"If they are speaking about humanitarian grounds ,what about the youth that worked hard to prepare for the PSC examinations and waited for their turn to get employment after finding a place in the list. This cannot be tolerated and Youth Congress will not be a mere spectators," he said.
In a related development, Kerala Minister for Industries, Youth Affairs and Sports, EP Jayarajan who was the first All India President of DYFI, justified the postings.
"There is nothing wrong in these postings. These are done to post those who had served the past 10 years at meager amounts and those who are creating trouble are the ones who got postings in this manner during earlier government period," he told the mediapersons.
Meanwhile, Paramabil called for a judicial probe into the backdoor appointments and added that the manner in which the spouses of several DYFI leaders got government jobs should be investigated.
The state government in the last Cabinet meeting on Wednesday regularised the services of 118 temporary employees in the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, or C-DIT, which falls directly under the Chief Minister.
The government is also planning to regularise the services of 90 temporary employees in Matsyafed, a government of Kerala undertaking which is into the welfare of the fishing community as well as sale of fish. Minister for Fisheries J. Mercykutty Amma said that the Matsayfed is also recruiting employees through PSC and those being regularized has been working at the organisation for the past 10 years.