Reservation in devaswom controlled schools, colleges: Devaswom Board rejects govt order

KOCHI: The Travancore Devaswom Board will not comply with the government order to maintain reservations while following admissions in colleges and schools controlled by Devaswom. The board's counsel informed the court on Monday that the government order is not applicable and the appointment is as per the UGC regulation.

In the affidavit submitted by G. Baiju, Secretary of the Board, it has been said that the government's reservation policy will not be applicable as the appointments in schools do not come under the purview of the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board but are conforming to the UGC Regulation of 2018.

The Devaswom Board was responding to Jinesh Joshi's request to dispose of the petition based on the government order. When Justice Ziyad Rahman reminded the counsel that it was indeed the decision taken by the office bearers of Devaswom, the lawyer pointed out the status of the board as an autonomous body which makes it impossible for the government to implement any order without considering the board's decision. The case will be heard again after two weeks.

On February 29, Devaswom Secretary M.G Rajamanickam IAS issued an order instructing the boards to implement the appointments by the rotation system followed by the Public Service Commission. The order was based on the decision taken by Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan with the board dignitaries.

The meeting of the State Devaswom Boards and Devaswom Recruitment Board will be held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Minister K. Radhakrishnan at Mannanthala, Thiruvananthapuram. The recruitment board has requested to include the appointment in educational institutions in the agenda.