Devaswom board reservation; The one-man army story of Shaji Sharma

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Although the government made history by extending reservation in the admission process of board-controlled schools and colleges, a left union leader on the board who raised the same demand 33 years ago faced years of harassment and later suspension from service.

R. Shaji Sharma, the former president of Travancore Devaswom Board's pro-CPM organization Employees' Confederation, went through a harrowing experience back in 1991, only because of one news from Kerala Kaumudi.

In 1991, appointments and student admissions were almost entirely monopolized by the forward communities. Appointments of backward class members were paltry. If appointed, people from backward classes were not entitled to promotion. Shaji Sharma, who was the vice president of the Sub Group Officers Association, came to the Kerala Kaumudi office and apprised the editor about the crisis ongoing inside the board.

Shaji Sharma's statement about injustice and double standards about the board when it comes to appointments occupied the front page of Kerala Kaumudi newspaper the next day. A rebellion kicked off by the upper caste lobby decided to oust Shaji Sharma from service.

With the news getting discussed, the then Travancore Devaswom Board President N. Bhaskaran Nair called Shaji Sharma and inquired about the newspaper report. Shaji Sharma, who was a junior superintendent at that time, was given a notice before his suspension. Shaji Sharma’s next move was to tear up the notice right in front of the president.

The move to oust Shaji Sharma intensified in the board after he led a strike by the employees protesting the denial of promotion to Senior Most Deputy Commissioner Kamalabhai to the post of commissioner on the grounds of being a woman from a backward community. In the meantime, the board appointed a senior chief engineer as commissioner violating the rules.

In the meantime, the High Court appointed the Paripoornan Commission to inquire into the irregularities in the board. The Commission called Sharma and asked him, who was a backward person, "What tricks did you use to become the president of an organization with 99 per cent upper caste members?" After the commission's intervention, Sharma was suspended from service in 2009. The action was based on the charge of Sharma being a member of the CPM.

Despite the opposition of CK Gupta, who was the president of the board, the CPI and RSP members supported the suspension. This was also the main news of Kerala Kaumudi during the times.

The then CPM State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran intervened in the matter. After six months, it was found that the service rules had not been violated in Sharma’s appointment.