Govt reduces job quota in new Kerala Admin Service

The final order issued by the Government of Kerala regarding the formation and functioning of the newly created premier state civil service cadre, the Kerala Administrative Service (KAS), has noticeably dropped the principle of community quota in two of its categories, entirely in one and in the other except for age limit relaxation.

The measure is feared to bring grave loss to the backward communities, who hitherto have been enjoying reservation for appointments in all state's government servicerecruitments. Along with loss of jobs in proportion to the reserved percentage in service, the government decision will also lead to imbalance in the representation of various communities. This is weaken the empowerment of such communities, especially in the new KAS cadre which consists of key position, with corresponding powers and functions.

In two streams where the existing government employees will directly get entry into KAS, reservation has been completely abolished. As per the government order, quotas will be available only for candidates from the open category, i.e. those who get ranked in the competitive examinations without antecedent service requirements.

All the drafts issued earlier of the KAS rules had provided for reservation in stream two, i.e offering places for government servants in the non-gazetted category. In the most recent draft, the mention of reservation was dropped but it was stated that appoiontments would be 'by direct recruitment'. This was changed into 'by transfer' in the order. The only relief for scheduled castes/tribes and for other backward communities is a relaxation in age limit of five years, of three years respectively.

In stream three, reserved for gazetted officers, there is neither reservation nor age limit relaxation. And there is an express provision that reservation will be applicable only for stream one. Although an apparent effort has been made in the order to limit stream two posts to those by transfer, its being left open for employees of all departments may be questioned legally. This is cited as an anomaly, because at the same time, gazetted officers of only 30 departements coming under KAS will be eligiblein stream two. On the other hand, certain sections are asking for similar limit to be applied to stream two too.

Thus as per the KSA order, two out of three categories fall outside the scope of job quotas, which negates the principle of reservation that aims at ample representation for backward communities. Surprisingly, backward community organizations have been sitting silent on this, while activist bodies of scheduled castes/tribes have taken a strong and vocal stance that reservation should be ensured in the KAS process. The government evidently is not fully seized of the reprecussions that will be caused by the denial of job quotas. A few officials have made a representation to the Chief Secretary against the denial of reservation.

The rationale floated for elimination of quotas in the two streams is that employees who have enjoyed reservation once in their service, will not be eligible for it again in the same service. However, the two services are different, except when the newly, and thoughtfully, inserted wording of 'by transfer' kicks in. Plus, all those who attempt for reservation in KAS selection may not have necessarily availed the benefit of reservation in their original appointment.

The final order reflects few other changes from the earlier drafts except in the matter of quotas. In light of the government order, Public Service Commission (PSC) is expected to issue notification shortly.