T’puram: The public service commission (PSC) ordered an internal vigilance enquiry into irregularities in the evaluation of a recruitment exam for key posts in the state planning board. PSC took the decision at a meeting on Monday following allegations that part of the answer scripts had not been evaluated before the publication of the rank list.PSC’s vigilance wing SP will head the enquiry. PSC also decided to cancel the existing rank list, conduct a fresh evaluation of the 10 answers left unassessed and then revise the rank list. PSC will also undertake a comprehensive revaluation of all answer scripts to ascertain whether this was a human error or deliberate manipulation or if any official was involved.The controversy is related to the descriptive exam conducted for the posts of chief (industry and infrastructure), chief (perspective planning) and chief (planning coordination) divisions in the board. The posts carry a basic pay of Rs 1.25 lakh a month.The irregularity surfaced after K Shyam Krishna, who was placed third in the rank list, obtained a copy of his answer script after questioning his score. He found that answers to questions 9 to 18 in the 100-mark examination were not evaluated and subsequently lodged a complaint with PSC. PSC’s preliminary verification found that the same 10 questions were not evaluated in the answer scripts of all 228 candidates who wrote the exam.The exam was held on Jul 13, 2023 and the rank list was published on May 31, 2025. One of the appointments made from the list was that of Arun J Prathap, who secured the first rank. He was appointed as the chief of industry and infrastructure division last year. The issue gained traction after media highlighted the alleged lapses in evaluation. Kerala Administrative Tribunal subsequently directed state govt and PSC to file explanations within three weeks.
