Kerala Administrative Service reservation after Attorney General opinion

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday told the assembly that the government had sought legal opinion on the issue of implementing reservation norms for the second and third stream of Kerala Administrative Service (KAS). The Chief Minister said a decision on the issue would be taken after receiving the legal opinion from AG. KAS consists of three streams: one third, by open selection for which selection would be made by State Public Service Commission (PSC) and the remaining two thirds would come from the existing government employees, through an examination.

In its present form, the reservation norms are applicable only to the first stream. Sources said apart from first stream, the original draft rules had also provided for reservation to the second and third streams as well. However, it was later removed from the revised draft bringing the latter two under promotion category.
It was done on the grounds that those who get 'transferred' from existing government positions, cannot enjoy the reservation again. Various organisations have opposed the present KAS set up and demanded reservation for the second and third stream as well. Absence of reservation in these streams would deny the proportionate representation in civil service which the system of reservation is supposed to ensure, as per the constitution.

"It's not promotion post but new post. Hence the present reservation norms being implemented in the state should be made applicable to all three streams," demanded K. Somaprasad, Rajya Sabha MP and state secretary of CPM-led Pattikajati Kshema Samithi. He said certain legal issues had to be sorted out in connection with the KAS reservation issue. Sources said the legal experts are going through some of the Supreme Court judgements on reservations in promotion posts. The government wants to implement the reservation policy without any legal hassles, they added.