The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the special rules allowing 50% reservation for backward classes in all the three streams of the Kerala Administrative Service (KAS), clearing the decks for the Public Service Commission to notify the posts for recruitment.
The amended rules will ensure reservation across the board in all the categories of induction into the KAS.
The KAS envisages the first stream as induction through direct recruitment. The second stream is for appointment to non-gazetted posts by effecting transfers of existing personnel and the third for filling gazetted posts through redeployment.
Initial rules
In the initial KAS rules notified in December 2017, the reservation was restricted to the direct recruitment stream, leading to widespread protests. Elected representatives and service organisations had moved the government seeking reservation in all three streams.
Following this, the government sought legal advice and the Cabinet approved a proposal in March this year to amend the rules.
The special rules ensure reservation across the board by replacing the `by transfer’ recruitment to the second and third streams with direct recruitment.
The minimum educational qualification for induction into the KAS is a university degree, and the age limit for candidates is 50 years.