KASARAGOD: The CPM -- facing allegations of favouritism and nepotism -- is once again in the dock over the temporary appointment of the administrative officer in Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) College of Engineering at Povval in Kasaragod.
Jayachandran K - the former personal assistant to the then MLA and CPM leader CH Kunhambu (2006-2011) - has been appointed to the post for a year, ignoring three other candidates who have more experience than him.
The Thiruvananthapuram-based LBS Centre for Science and Technology, which runs the college, called for applications for the post of administrative officer on July 3 and set the interview on July 27. According to the notification, the candidate should have "retired from Kerala government service" and should "have held a similar position while in service".
The notification attracted four applications and all the four persons were called for the interview. Three of them had retired as administrative officers -- one from the Police Department, another from the General Education Department and the third from the LBS College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram, said sources.
Jayachandran, according to his resume, retired as assistant registrar in the Department of Cooperation on May 31. The post of the assistant registrar is equivalent to the post of a senior superintendent in other government departments, and hierarchically one rank below the post of the administrative officer.
The interviews were conducted by deputy director Dr Naveen S and administrative officer Latha AV from the headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram and college principal Muhammed Shekoor in Kasaragod.
According to sources in the college, the headquarters decided to call all the candidates for the interview. "After the interview, the principal sent his feedback to the main Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, and the hiring decision was taken at the centre," said an official.
However, he said that Jayachandran held a supervisory post before retirement and so he got the points earmarked for the supervisory experience.
When asked how he was preferred over the other three candidates who retired as administrative officers, the official said he was not aware of their designations or experience. "In any case, the decision was taken in Thiruvananthapuram," he said.
While college principal Shekoor did not comment on the development, phone calls made to the centre's director Prof M Abdul Rahiman went unanswered. LBS Centre for Science and Technology is a government of Kerala undertaking, with the chief minister as the chairman of the governing body and minister for higher education KT Jaleel as the chairman.
KASARAGOD: Members of the Youth Congress gheraoed Dr Muhammed Shekoor, principal of LBS College of Engineering, over the appointment of a CPM supporter to the post of the administrative officer. Adhur police said that the principal was gheraoed from 9 am to 2 pm.
The police held talks with the protesters and dispersed them with an assurance that the principal would talk to the other two members of the interview board and give an explanation.
However, the Youth Congress demanded that the government should rescind the appointment order and order an enquiry into the process. "This is a clear case of backdoor appointment," said Youth Congress district president BP Pradeep Kumar.
He added that the government should explain how three candidates with more experience and who met the eligibility criteria set up the LBS Centre were overlooked for a candidate who did not hold the post of an administrative officer.