Church leaders, managements protest over aided school appointments in Kerala

Leaders of Catholic churches and managements of aided schools under them on Saturday staged a protest in front of the state secretariat here, demanding permission to appoint teachers from the general category in cases where vacancies reserved for differently-abled candidates remain unfilled.

Leaders of Catholic churches and managements of aided schools under them on Saturday staged a protest in front of the state secretariat here, demanding permission to appoint teachers from the general category in cases where vacancies reserved for differently-abled candidates remain unfilled. Inaugurating the protest, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church, Baselios Cleemis, said that when the High Court ruled that four per cent reservation should be provided to persons with disabilities, all aided school managements accepted the verdict, recognising the social objective behind it. ''However, under the guise of this, the state government has taken a ruthless stand against thousands of teachers who are taking classes daily in schools. This issue should be addressed in a timely manner,'' he said. He alleged that teachers were being penalised in the name of reservation for the differently-abled. ''When managements are ready to appoint differently-abled candidates, such persons are not being made available. That is why we say justice is being denied,'' he said. Responding to the protest, Education Minister V Sivankutty said some were trying to project the issue as a political matter during the election season. ''This is not a political issue. It is related to court orders and the law,'' he said. The minister said the state government had already filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on the matter and that it was pending consideration. ''If the court delivers a verdict next week, the government will issue orders accordingly,'' he said. Sivankutty said the government had not taken any step to harm Christian managements or teachers. ''It is true that a sufficient number of differently-abled persons are not available for appointment to reserved posts. In such cases, the affected parties should approach the court and highlight the issue. They have not approached the court so far,'' he said. The issue pertains to the implementation of four per cent reservation to persons with disabilities for appointments in aided schools across the state. The Nair Service Society (NSS) had approached the Supreme Court earlier and obtained a favourable verdict allowing the appointment of candidates from the general category if reserved vacancies remain unfilled. Following that judgment, other aided school managements have been demanding the extension of the same benefit to them as well.

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