Bengaluru: The Kerala government has introduced 10% reservation for financially backward upper-caste Hindus in appointments to the boards of five public-run bodies or Devaswom boards, which administer about 3,000 Hindu temples, as it recast job reservation norms.

Upper caste Hindu organisations such as the Nair Service Society have been demanding such reservations since the state was formed in 1957.

The new norms, introduced on Wednesday, will also lead to more backward caste Hindu community members entering temple administration, as the government has increased the quota for members of Other Backward Castes (OBC) and Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe (SC-ST) communities—to 17% from 14% and to 12% from 10%, respectively.

This is the second time that the state’s communist government, which came to power last year, is reprogramming the running of Hindu temples.

Last month, it had asked temple boards to strictly follow quota norms for the SC-ST community as applied for any other government job, leading to the appointment of 36 Dalits as temple priests for the first time in Kerala.

Announcing the new norms at a press conference, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan also supported reservations for economically backward upper-caste Hindus applicable in all government jobs, a sensitive topic which would require a consensus among major political parties across India and a Constitutional amendment to be implemented.

As a first step, Vijayan said, his government will implement such reservation in certain sectors where constitutional changes are not required, like the Devaswom boards.

The state government’s view is that vacancies in Devaswom boards can be filled with financially backward forward-caste Hindu community members without constitutional vetting.

Vijayan also said that the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and the state government would continue to put pressure on the centre to bring in Constitutional amendments to provide reservation to economically backward in forward communities in other government jobs as well.

LDF’s declared policy is that reservation for backward communities and SC-STs for government jobs and in the education sector should continue along with a fixed reservation percentage for the economically backward in forward classes, he said.

PTI contributed to this story.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via