After rallying behind the nationwide agitation over the alleged NEET paper leak, sections of the Malayalam film industry have turned their attention to the ongoing protest over alleged Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) recruitment irregularities in Kerala. Soon after former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called off its protest in New Delhi, actor Chandu Salimkumar urged people to rally behind the ongoing PSC protest outside the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. On Sunday night, actors Tovino Thomas and Naslen joined the Manjummel Boys actor by sharing his Instagram reel through their Stories, signalling the first signs of celebrity support for the agitation in Kerala. More film personalities are expected to join in the coming days.
Chandu has been posting Stories and reels highlighting the demands of PSC rank-holders, who have been staging a prolonged protest over alleged irregularities in public recruitment and delays in appointments. In one of his Stories, the actor tagged the official Instagram handles of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Kerala, Students' Federation of India (SFI) Kerala and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) Kerala, while urging them to take up the issue. "Start from here, ask questions!" he wrote, before adding in Malayalam: "Partiyekkal valuthaanu janangal. Janangalkku vendi janangal undaakkiyathalle party (The people matter more than the party. Wasn't the party created by the people to serve the people?)".
The latest show of solidarity comes on the heels of the Malayalam film industry's vocal support for the CJP-led protests in New Delhi. Over the past week, actors including Tovino, Naslen, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Dulquer Salmaan, Asif Ali, Kunchacko Boban, Nazriya Nazim, Anaswara Rajan, Shane Nigam, Rajisha Vijayan, Soubin Shahir, Indrajith Sukumaran and several others had backed the student movement and criticised the police action during the 'Chalo Sansad' march.
The agitation outside the Kerala Secretariat is being led primarily by lower primary school teacher rank-holders, who say they continue to await appointments despite having secured positions in the existing PSC rank list. The protesters allege that vacancies are not being reported promptly, while some departments are issuing fresh recruitment notifications or resorting to temporary appointments instead of filling posts from the active rank lists. They argue that if the lists expire before appointments are made, years of preparation and competitive examinations would go to waste.
The movement has also gained momentum following allegations of irregularities in the PSC's recruitment process, including concerns over flaws in the digital evaluation system and demands for greater transparency and accountability in public recruitment. Among their key demands are an extension of the current rank lists, immediate reporting and filling of vacancies, transparent recruitment practices and an end to appointments that allegedly bypass eligible PSC candidates. The protesters are also seeking structural reforms to ensure similar issues do not recur.
To keep the issue in the public eye, the rank-holders have resorted to a series of symbolic protests, including hunger strikes, eating soil and kneeling on rock salt outside the Secretariat. Several aspirants have also pointed out that while the CJP movement in Delhi drew widespread backing from politicians, activists and celebrities, their own agitation has so far received comparatively little attention despite raising similar questions about accountability and the future of young people.