Economic reservation facing more resistance

Reservation based on economic status is a new concept that Kerala government recently decided to introduce in jobs under the state's Devaswom boards. It is not open to all economically backward sections, but only to those from the forward castes. Predictably, it has triggered opposition and resistance from organisations of different backward communities.

Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam General Secretary Vellappalli Natesan came out strongly against the Kerala Government's unilateral move to introduce economic reservation in appointments to Devaswom boards, when he said that the decision ran into natural setback when it received legal opinion cautioning against the government's position.

The attempt to introduce economic reservation succumbing to the lobbying of upper castes and without sufficient consultation, has cost the government its image, he added. Before taking such an important decision, it did not take care to hold discussions with even coalition partners. It does not become a government morally bound to function with a sense of mission for the common man, to yield to the the pressure of the upper castes and impose the reservation decision which will not pass legal and constitutional test.

Will have to face repercussions: Latin Church

The Latin Church council has warned the government that if the government went ahead with its declared plan to introduce economic reservation, there will be a major setback. Kerala Regional Latin Catholic Council (KRLCC) Vice President Shaji George, told a press conference that his body will work together with other minority-backward communities to take legal action for protecting the rights guaranteed to them by the constitution.

It is objectionable, he said, that despite the legal advice it received against such job quota system, the government is going ahead with the plan. Latin community has not got social justice in sufficient measure, and statistics for the past 11 years will show that the community has lost 4730 government posts. Even in the existing reservation based on socio-economic grounds, the community has not received the benefits it deserved. If the government releases statistics based on caste, this fact will become clear.

It is a further injustice to reservation-eligible communities to not apply reservation in streams Two and Three of the proposed Kerala Administrative Service (KAS). The cadre should be established only after this is rectified. For this, he added, the government should be prepared to amend the notification issued recently.