Why so many Kerala PSC posts carry the letters NCA, and what Dheevara and LC/AI mean on a notification

Background

Most of the twelve categories open in the Kerala Public Service Commission's latest Extraordinary Gazette, which closes on 2 December 2026, are marked NCA. NCA stands for No Candidate Available. When a reserved turn in a rank list goes unfilled because no candidate from that community qualified, the Commission issues a fresh notification for that turn alone, open only to candidates of that community. That is why the gazette shows posts such as Assistant Professor in Cardiology (II NCA-SC) and Assistant Professor in Pathology (II NCA-Dheevara). Dheevara is one of Kerala's Other Backward Classes communities, traditionally of fishing occupations. LC/AI stands for Latin Catholics and Anglo-Indians, another reservation group in the State's rules. A roman numeral before NCA shows how many times that turn has already been notified without being filled.