Absence of a full-time director at the helm and lack of qualified deputy directors in two of its three divisions are believed to be affecting the functioning of the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS), the Kozhikode-based government body for the uplift of the marginalised communities in the State.
According to sources, the government is yet to appoint a full-time director for KIRTADS after S. Bindu was transferred from the post eight months ago. Though P. Pugazhendi, Director, Department for the Development of Scheduled Tribes, was given the additional charge of the institution, he is said to be not fully involved in its functioning because of other responsibilities.
This has hit the research and development works aimed to help members of the SCs and STs.
Budget allocation
The institution did not get its share of budget allocation in the 2018-19 financial year. There seems to be no coordination between the research, training and development studies divisions.
Only the training wing has a full-time deputy director and the other two divisions have in-charge heads.
Many of the employees are appointed on contract basis. There has been allegations of nepotism and involvement of vested interests in some of the recent appointments too.
Members of the Dalits and tribal communities had to bear the brunt of this as they are denied of many services. According to the Kerala (Scheduled Castes And Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1996, the Anthropology Intelligence section is supposed to do research into any dispute over caste or issuance of caste certificate among these communities.
This section does not have a full-time deputy director qualified under the special rules for the past 10 years.
As many as 5,000 cases related to caste dispute or issuance of caste certificate are now pending with it now.
There has been allegations of wrongful inclusion of communities on the ST list to get benefits too. C. Balakrishnan, functionary of the All-Kerala Mavilan Samajam, an organisation representing the Mavilans in Kasaragod district, told The Hindu that the lack of qualified staff had led to the partial inclusion of the Marati community on the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The samajam had challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.
Maratis, who migrated from Maharashtra to Kerala centuries ago, were earlier declared belonging to the Other Backward Classes. Mr. Balakrishnan blamed the lack of permanent staff at the institution for its current state of affairs.