Fifth year of waiting: When will KAS issue its next notification?

As November 1 marks five years since the first Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) notification, the question of when the next one will be issued still remains unanswered.

The timeline for the next round of recruitment remains unclear, despite the rule that new notifications should be published every two years. This guideline has already been violated, with two years passing since the cancellation of the first rank list, which was published on October 8, 2021. To date, neither the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) nor the government has provided any updates on the next notification. Though the former Chief Secretary had hinted at a new notification by November 1 of last year, this too did not materialise.

Recruitment under three streams
KAS publishes notification under three streams. Stream 1 involves direct recruitment. Stream 2 selects employees who have successfully completed probation in various departments under Kerala Government service or who are permanent employees. Stream 3 recruits from first-gazetted officers mentioned in Schedule 1 of the KAS Special Rules 2018 or from government employees holding equivalent or higher positions as outlined in Schedule 1.

In the first rank list, 108 individuals across these three streams received recommendations for recruitment.

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Notification only on existing vacancies
Unlike other departments, KAS cannot release notifications for anticipated vacancies. The PSC has made it clear that only existing vacancies will prompt a new notification. The first notification reported 105 vacancies, with the rank list being valid for one year.

Though more vacancies were expected to arise by the time of publishing the first rank list, that did not occur. Each of the three streams under KAS had 35 vacancies. With the NJD vacancies too being reported, 37 individuals from Stream 1 and 36 from Stream 2 received recruitment recommendations. In Stream 3, however, only 35 were recommended.

Additional vacancies, rising expectations
While the first KAS notification identified 105 vacancies in Section 29, a committee supervised by the Chief Secretary has now identified 44 additional vacancies. Active efforts are being made to locate deputation vacancies too. If these additional vacancies are confirmed, the second notification could potentially offer more positions.

Breakdown of recruitment positions by stream
• Stream 1
Open Merit: 24, Ezhava: 55, SC (Supplementary): 2, OBC (Supplementary): 1, Vishwakarma: 65,Differently Abled (LV, Supplementary): 1, Differently Abled (HI, Supplementary): 1.

• Stream 2
Open Merit: 21, Ezhava: 40, SC (Supplementary): 3, Muslim: 38, LC/AI: 28, Vishwakarma (Supplementary): 1, Differently Abled (LV, Supplementary): 1, Differently Abled (HI, Supplementary): 1

• Stream 3
Open Merit: 22, Ezhava: 42, Muslim: 33, LC/AI: 49, Vishwakarma (Supplementary): 1, Differently Abled (LV, Supplementary): 1, Differently Abled (HI, Supplementary): 1

Demand for raising age limit
As the wait continues, aspirants are now demanding a timely revision of the upper age limit for KAS recruitments. Currently, the age limit for Stream 1 is set at 21-32 years, while for Stream 2, it is 21-40 years, and for Stream 3, under 50 years. Candidates argue that the upper age limit for Stream 1 and Stream 2 should be increased. A majority of the government posts in Kerala have an upper age limit of 36. At present, the 32-year age cap for Stream 1 disqualifies thousands of eligible candidates. Similarly, employees holding positions ranging from Junior Superintendent to Clerk are unable to apply for Stream 2.

Expanding KAS recruitment to Public Sector Units
In line with a decision by the state government to extend KAS recruitment to Public Sector Units (PSUs) too, the Chief Secretary wrote to relevant institutions, requesting them to report suitable vacancies in PSUs and self-government bodies. The aim was to identify mid-level management posts in profitable PSUs, Government Missions and Projects for deputation reserves. If deemed appropriate, the service of KAS officers may also be considered for deputation reserves in non-profitable PSUs too. To enable this, authorities have been instructed to ensure that vacancies come up in these positions within a maximum of two years.

The directive further emphasised that posts should be consolidated without adding financial burdens and that the exact date of the arising vacancy should be recorded. However, the government has yet to release details on how many PSUs have reported vacancies under this scheme.

Further, there is still no clarity on whether employees of PSUs can apply for KAS positions. In the previous round, PSU employees were not allowed to apply under KAS Streams 1 and 2.