However, there is now speculation from political observers, social activists, and public service commission rank holders that the move was meant to appease certain sections of the community as the Assembly polls approach.
Speaking to TNM, Dr Azad, a social activist and former principal of Manjeri NSS college, said “Government is not creating posts in government colleges even when there is a demand for the same. Many are in the rank lists waiting to get assistant professor jobs in government colleges. But government is not initiating recruitment citing fund crunch. But at the same time its creating fresh vacancies at private aided colleges. And the government will have to pay for the aided college posts run by religious and caste communities. This is to gain their votes for the coming elections."
The list of colleges in the Kerala government order reveals that the majority of the colleges with the approval for fresh allotment belong to the Christian, Ezhava, and Muslim communities.
“Being in close connection with college teachers and students, I know that there are gaps in the student-teacher ratio in many colleges. It has to be fixed. But my concern is when such postings take place and when the state government pays for these teachers in the aided colleges. Why are the reservation norms not followed?” Azad questioned.
Interestingly, in December 2017, the Kerala High Court said the state government has no power to extend the reservation policy in the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff in private aided colleges.
The Kerala High Court’s Division Bench issued the order while quashing an order of a single judge, which directed all universities in the state to make necessary amendments in statute or frame statutes to ensure that appropriate reservation is made for SC/ST candidates in the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff in aided non-minority institutions.
The judgment stated that UGC regulations had not attempted to impose any such reservations on private institutions. The regulations were only guidelines and did not consider the implementation of the reservation policy in private-aided educational institutions.
The Division Bench observed that the Supreme Court had upheld the right to establish and administer educational institutions by non-minority communities under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
The right to appoint staff had been recognised as part of the right to establish and administer educational institutions.
The court made clear that Article 15(5) and 16(4) of the Constitution (reservations) couldn’t be interpreted to permit the state to insist that its reservation policy should be followed by private educational institutions in the matter of staff appointments.
Meanwhile, PJ James, state leader of the CPI-ML (Red Star) and a retired professor at a Christian aided college, also told TNM that the creation of such posts for certain minority sections in Kerala is a political move.
“Interestingly, these colleges are not going to appoint candidates without taking money. We all know that even if you are an eligible candidate, you have to pay the college to get the job and the current rate is not less than Rs 25 lakh,” he claimed, noting that the corruption could amount to tens of crores.
“Aided colleges will take money, and the government will pay for teachers from its treasury, which is already stressed due to two floods and COVID-19 induced economic crisis,” James added.
Meanwhile, Bineesh BS, a teacher at a private law college, said he is puzzled by the government move.
“I am on the public service commission rank holder list of law teachers. If five posts are created in government law colleges, then I will get a posting. After the Bar Council of India found that there is a need for fresh five teachers’ posts in law colleges to balance the student-teacher ratio, the government created a file in August 2020 to create five fresh posts. But in December, the government put the file on hold citing COVID-19 economic crisis,” Bineesh said.
“The government is saying they don’t have money to pay for five law college teachers. But at the same time, it has money to pay for 721 professors in aided colleges. Isn’t this perplexing?” Bineesh asked.
Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary Mathew Kuzhanalnadan, issued a note on January 2, alleging that the government’s action appeared to show a bias against PSC rank holders.
“Additionally, he alleged that Kerala government is not insisting that departments declare and update vacancies to PSC,” Mathew said.
Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that “this government is fooling job aspirants and PSC rank holders.”
“During the government’s tenure, PSC rank list holders had taken their own lives when the lists were cancelled. This government is interested only in giving jobs for their supporters through the backdoor,” he alleged.
On January 3, the Kerala government confirmed permanent postings for 296 contract workers at Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (KELTRON), which also irked PSC rank holders.
PSC rank holders’ association leader Rateesh R told TNM, “Such things are happening when thousands of rank holders have been waiting to get an appointment order for the last few years.”
“Everywhere, postings are happening according to their whims and fancies,” he added.