Kerala: Sportspersons stage protest seeking appointment to 'promised' jobs

Remember Kerala CM’s FB post on the government order to employ National Games medal holders? Well, these sportspersons are still on the streets staging a protest seeking appointment to those ‘promised’ jobs.

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The sportspersons, who had won silver and bronze medals in the National Games earlier, were honoured and promised a job by the State Government back then. However, as they have not received any appointment letters from the Government so far, the sportspersons have been staging an indefinite protest in front of the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, for the past 15 days, seeking the Government's appointment to the ‘promised’ jobs in Public Sector companies.

Back in 2019 September, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had posted on his official Facebook page, after passing a Government Order to this effect, that these sportspersons would be appointed in the Government service. State Sports Minister E P Jayarajan and the CM must notice this protest and intervene to help the Sportspersons who had won medals for the State at a national level.

‘Each file has a life’, the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had stated on assuming office as the CM, urging the bureaucrats and other Government staff to be more empathetic and considerate to common men and directing them to expedite the work on their tables. Nevertheless, even after 15 months since the Government Order was issued, the 83 sportspersons who had won medals for the State have not received their appointment orders.

The previous UDF government had announced that the National Games medal holders from the State would be employed in the Public Sector Companies in the State. As that did not happen until the LDF Government came to power, the sportspersons approached the present Government with their demand. The LDF Government had then assured that supernumerary positions would be created and all the 83 sportspersons who won medals in the National Games would be employed. The Government also issued an order to this effect soon thereafter. The CM and the Sports Minister had posted pictures on Facebook posing with these sportspersons. But nothing further happened.

The CM’s ‘each file has a life’ principle does not seem to have worked in this matter.

Though many of these Sportspersons had got job opportunities from other places in the country, they waited to be placed in their homeland relying on the Government’s assurance and lost those opportunities. With the Government not keeping its assurance, the plight of these sportspersons is pathetic. Many make a living by engaging in daily wage labour.

The indefinite protest staged by the sportspersons in front of the State Secretariate has been on for the past 15 days urging the Government to appoint them in the promised job positions. Nevertheless, the Government has not responded positively to the protest so far. The Government reasons that there is no vacancy in the supernumerary positions to appoint the sportspersons immediately.

The National Games medal holders allege that their files remain entangled in the red tapes of Public Administration and Finance departments with the State Secretariate. They say the Government should practice what it says, referring to the CM’s ‘Each file has a life’ speech. They hope that the Government takes note of their protest and keeps up with its assurance.

This is a reminder for the State CM and the Sports Minister to look back at their old Facebook post and act accordingly.