Govt takes a U-turn on KAS reservation

Thiruvananthapuram: With Lok Sabha polls fast approaching, LDF government announced normal reservation pattern during recruitment in all three streams of Kerala Administrative Service (KAS), including the two ‘by-transfer’ streams, taking a U-turn from its earlier stance to restrict the same in the ‘direct stream’.
“Recruitment in all three streams will be done through a written test and interview and 50% or whatever reservation percentage is followed in direct recruitment stream will be followed in the other two streams (for non-gazetted posts and first gazetted posts) as well,” said law minister A K Balan on Tuesday.

In December 2018, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that government can only go for a special recruitment drive to ensure reservation in the latter two streams if they are found to be under represented by weaker communities at a later stage. This is unlike the usual reservation norms followed in the direct recruitment stream.

However, after a discussion with the chief minister, Balan said on Tuesday that KAS rules will be amended if obstacles do not allow the extension of normal reservation to the other two streams.

“There’s a false campaign going on, most probably in view of the ensuing polls, that government is trying to scuttle reservation in KAS. Protest marches are also being planned to Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence. He had categorically told the assembly that the government would initiate steps to rectify any disproportion in reservation in these two streams,” he said.

When told that the CM had only proposed a special recruitment drive after initial recruitment and not equal reservation in all three streams, Balan said LDF and the government always agreed to follow existing reservation policy in all streams. “The government is not concerned about the ‘double reservation’ which might be enjoyed by candidates who have already availed the benefit while securing their current government job (entry post). KAS is a new system and rules would be amended to comply with reservation norms,” he said.

Replying to a calling attention motion moved by IUML’s T A Ahmed Kabeer last December, the chief minister had said that the SC and ST commission and minority commission had urged the government to ensure reservation in all three streams to ensure social justice.

The chief minister had said that government had to accept the legal opinion from the advocate general which said there was no need to adopt a reservation policy in the two streams. “But, the government will go for a special recruitment, if there is a shortage of candidates from minority, SC/ST categories,” he had said.