NSS against reservation in streams of KAS

Says govt. sidestepped SC orders

Accusing the State government of sidestepping legal opinion and Supreme Court orders, the Nair Service Society (NSS) has come out against a move to implement reservation quota for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in streams 2 and 3 of the Kerala Administrative Service (KAS).

In a statement issued here recently, NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair termed the State government move to implement the reservation system through an amendment to the service rules as unconstitutional and against social justice.

‘Denial of justice’

“There is no doubt that this will foment factionalism and disputes among bureaucrats, besides denying justice to the meritorious and affecting the overall efficiency of the system,” he said.

He said the KAS had been established in accordance with the existing general service rules that stipulated that no person inducted into service through reservation could avail himself/ herself of the benefit of reservation again.

Despite this, the government sought a legal opinion from the Advocate General regarding the implementation of the reservation system in the KAS streams.

In the Nagraj case, the Supreme Court had observed that the SC/STs could be given reservation benefits for promotions in service under Article 16 (4) (a) only if the said category does not have adequate representation in the segment and also on condition that it will not affect the efficiency of service.

Similarly, in the Indira Sahni case, a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court had taken a similar stance against promotion on the basis of reservation, he added.

Against this backdrop, the Advocate General gave an opinion against the proposal though this government was going with its plans to implement reservation in contravention of the existing rules, he noted.