SC/ST panel rejects rule on reservations

The Kerala State Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Commission has rejected provisions related to appointment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to the Kerala Administrative Service by way of by-transfer appointment on the grounds that it was a violation of justice and prevented their promotion to higher posts.

The commission was acting on a petition by Pattikajathi Kshema Samithi treasurer Vandithadam Madhu that the Kerala Administrative Service Special Rules were a violation of Article 16 of the Constitution, at an adalat here on Wednesday.

Appointments to the KAS are envisaged in three streams. Only in the first stream are the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes allowed reservation as per the Constitution. In stream 2 and 3, they have not been given reservation, the petition said. The government’s stance was that appointments to stream 2 and 3 were made by way of by-transfer recruitment, and so reservation could not be allowed. Refusing to accept the explanation, commission chairman B.S. Mavoji said denying reservation in appointments in stream 2 and 3 while allowing age relaxation was against social justice. The KAS was envisaged as a feeder service of the IAS. The commission asked the government to submit a detailed report on the matter within 15 days.

The commission, on a petition by Omana of Kallanna settlement in Eeyakode, asked the Nedumangad Integrated Tribal Development Project Officer to ensure the protection of Sreekutty, an Adivasi girl of the settlement who had lost her parents, and rehabilitate her in a women’s hostel under the Scheduled Tribes Department and ensure that she could continue her studies.

In another case, a resident of the same settlement complained that the KSRTC was refusing to extend its three bus services to Kattalakuzhi to Eeyakode which was only 2 km away.

As many as 73 cases were considered at the adalat, of which 45 were settled.

The adalat will continue for the next two days.