CM clarifies says no going back on quota to poor of fwd communities
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Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office has issued a press note which clarified that there is no question of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government not honouring its commitment to provide 10% reservation for the poor among the forward communities in Devaswom board appointments and the decision to push for a Constitution amendment for reservation of 10% general posts for poor among the forward communities.
In the press note released here on Thursday, CM's office said the Chief Minister was unequivocal in his explanation of the stand of the LDF and the government regarding reservation at his meeting with Hindu communities here on Wednesday. The government stand was that the poor among forward communities who were not eligible for reservation should get 10% reservation. However, this would be possible only with a Constitution amendment for which the government proposed to exert pressure on the Central government. This, however, did not apply to the Devaswom board appointments, which fell well within the jurisdiction of the State government. The Cabinet had decided to grant 10% reservation in such jobs to the poor among the forward communities. Only persons belonging to various Hindu communities were eligible for appointment in Devaswom boards. The 18% reservation for minority communities was not applicable to such appointments. I The Cabinet had chosen to set apart 10% of jobs in Devaswom boards for the poor in the forward communities from this quota.
The remaining 8% would be divided among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Ezhavas and other backward communities. Amendments to Devaswom board recuritment rules to facilitate this were under preparation. The reports relating to the Chief Minister’s statements at the Hindu community leaders’ meeting appearing on Thursday were, therefore, baseless and meant only to create misunderstanding among the people, the office said.