Kerala government decides to reorganize forward commission

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an apparent gesture to reach out to forward communities, currently at loggerheads with the LDF government over Sabarimala issue, the state cabinet on Tuesday decided to reorganize the forward community commission and formulate on a war footing, norms for identifying beneficiaries among them who are eligible for economic reservation.

The decision to reorganize the commission comes hardly five days after the NSS urged the government to take immediate steps for the reorganisation of the commission, the functioning of which the NSS had stated as highly imperative for devising schemes and plans for the welfare of the economically weaker members belonging to forward communities. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters the cabinet has decided to appoint a three-member commission with retired justice M R Hariharan Nair as its chairman.

In order to expedite the procedures for establishing reservation norms for the economically weak in forward communities, the cabinet has also decided to appoint a two-member committee with retired district judge K Sasidharan and advocate K Rajagopalan Nair as members for submitting a report on how the reservation norms can be streamlined for this purpose.

"The LDF had promised to provide reservation for the financially weak among forward communities during the polls. The central government has clarified that states can carry out necessary changes to ensure reservation reaches the poor in forward communities. The commission would formulate criteria for identifying the financial backwardness of the candidates. The government would like to implement it on a war footing," the chief minister said. The commission would have to submit its recommendations in three months.

NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair had pointed out on February 28 that the term of the first commission, led by justice A V Ramakrishna Pillai had elapsed on February 25, 2019 and the delay on the part of the state government in reconstituting the commission was an indication of its negligence towards the economically weaker sections in forward communities.

"It is the government's responsibility and obligation (towards the economically weak in forward communities) to do the needful before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections," Sukumaran Nair had said.