The Public Service Commission (PSC) rank holders in the capital city and towns in the state have been agitating in front of the State Secretariat against regularisation of contractual employees and backdoor appointments by the LDF Government. The Government, which is at the fag end of its tenure, has been regularizing contractual employees who have completed 10 years of service ‘on humanitarian grounds’. Various departments, PSUs and quasi government bodies and other autonomous bodies have been employing people on contract for long at the cost of eligible candidates. The State Secretariat premises witnessed high drama when last grade PSC rank holder and the husband of another rank holder poured kerosene on them and threatened to immolate themselves. The poignant incident brought into bold relief the issue of backdoor appointments, which has created widespread resentment against the Pinarayi Vijayan Government.

It was the youth wing of the Communist Party of India(CPI), the All India Youth Federation(AIYF) which realized the dangers of ignoring the rising tide of public opinion against the Government’s apathetic attitude to the agitators first. The AIYF, in a move to defuse the tension over the issue, urged the Government to initiate talks with the job aspirants. The CPIU’s youth wing realized that the Opposition was succeeding in its attempt to mobilize support on the sensitive issue. And, if not handled properly, the issue could spiral out of the Government’s control and could even adversely affect the prospects of the LDF in the assembly elections.

But, so far, the Government has turned a deaf ear to the demand for talks. The result is that public opinion is fast turning against the Government. And the issue has come as a godsend for the Opposition in the State to belabour the Government with. Understandably, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP are trying their level best to extract political mileage out of the issue. And the Government’s mulishly obstinate stand is helping the Opposition to make considerable political gain out of the issue. This cannot but have disastrous consequences for the LDF, which is trying to ensure a second term for the Pinarayi Vijayan Government.

The Government’s contention is that it is regularizing the services of only those employees who have completed 10 years of service on humanitarian grounds. The agitating job aspirants however feel that the Government’s regularization drive is denying them a chance to secure government employees. All that they are asking is to create more posts so that at least a certain percentage of the aspirants who are on the PSC list could hope to get jobs. And they want to have talks with either the Chief Minister himself or ministers deputed by him to resolve the issue.

The Government has, in the meantime, made a climb-down of sorts to meet the agitators half way by putting on hold the regularization of temporary employees. The Opposition has, understandably claimed that the Government has been forced to take the step in view of the growing support for the agitating job aspirants and the Opposition firmly rallying behind the agitators. In another step to assuage the anger of the agitators, the Government has created more than 3,000 new posts, especially in the health sector. But it is doubtful if these steps can produce the desired results. The detractors of the government have said that the steps have come too late in the day and amount to bolting the doors after the horses have bolted.

The job aspirants have however, decided to continue the agitation till all their demands are met. And the Congress has demanded that all the regularisations done till date should be cancelled, and the Government must immediately start a dialogue with the agitators, shedding its arrogance and ego. But, unfortunately, The Government has shown, so far, no inclination for talks

What has incurred the wrath of the agitators are the insulting remarks being made against them by some ministers of the Pinarayi Government. This is adding insult to injury and can only cause further erosion of the Government’s support base. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the Government start talking to the job aspirants without further loss of time. If it had decided on talks to defuse the tension at least a week back, the Opposition would have been deprived of a potent weapon to harass the Government. That it has not cared to do that speaks poorly of its capacity to tackle sensitive issues.

The CPI(M) leaders must also exercise utmost restraint in their statements and remarks on sensitive issues. A major factor which has increased the resentment against the Government has been the intemperate and shocking remarks made by ministers against the agitating job aspirants. Among the most ‘guilty’ are senior ministers themselves like Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan and Law Minister AK Balan. Unfortunately, CPI(M)’s acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan is also embarrassing the party and the Government by making controversial statements with increasing frequency. His latest gaffe has been the statement, made at the LDF’s ‘Vikasana Munnetra Yatra’, the other day.

Addressing the participants in the yatra, Vijayaraghavan said minority communalism is the biggest threat to the society. After the statement sparked off a big controversy, he changed his tone. In another statement, which amounted to a neat U-turn, he said majority communalism is more dangerous! “Majority communalism is in power now with the support of big corporate houses and corporate media. The communalism of a community which has larger numbers is more dangerous. Who has any doubts about it?” The Opposition promptly pounced on Vijayaraghavan’s political blunder and accused him of speaking the language of RSS leaders.

The LDF Government must understand that the euphoria generated by its spectacular victory in the local body elections has vanished into thin air thanks to such controversial remarks and ill-thought out steps it has been taking post the local body polls. The Government must firmly resist the temptation to score self goals, especially with the crucial assembly elections just two months away. Its chances of retaining power, which looked quite bright in the wake of the local body poll victory, are not all that good in the wake of the latest developments like the job aspirants agitation.

If the LDF is serious about retaining power, then it must take urgent corrective steps. The Government should focus fully on development schemes and people-friendly measures, instead of landing itself in serious trouble through shocking acts of arrogance and insensitivity. It is not too late even now. But time is running out fast. The correctives must be in place forthwith. The Opposition has already gained considerable ground because of the Government’s ineptitude and folly. That situation must be reversed. Wisdom must dawn at the earliest. Otherwise, a second consecutive term in office will remain a pipedream. Are the CPI(M) leaders listening? (IPA Service)