I
Officials of Catholic churches and management of aided schools protested in front of the secretariat here on Saturday, demanding permission to appoint teachers from the general category in cases where posts reserved for differently-abled candidates remain vacant.
Inaugurating the protest, Syromalankara Church Major Archbishop Mar Baselios Cleemis said that when the Supreme Court ruled that 4% reservation should be given to persons with disabilities, all supported school managements accepted the verdict and recognized the social objective behind it. “However, under the guise of this, the state government has taken a ruthless stand against thousands of teachers who attend classes in schools daily. This issue should be addressed in time,” he said.
He alleged that teachers were penalized in the name of reservation for the differently-abled. “When managements are ready to appoint differently abled candidates, such persons are not available. That is why we say justice is being denied,” he said.
Reacting to the protest, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said some were trying to project the issue as a political issue during the election period. “This is not a political issue. It has to do with court orders and the law,” he said.
The minister said that the state government had already filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in this regard and that it was awaited. “If the court delivers a verdict next week, the government will issue appropriate orders,” he said, adding that the government had not taken any step to harm the Christian leadership or teachers.
“It is true that there is not a sufficient number of differently abled persons available for appointment to reserved positions. In such cases, the disabled should turn to the court and draw attention to the problem. They have not yet turned to the court,” he said.
The Nair Service Society (NSS) had earlier approached the Supreme Court and obtained a favorable verdict allowing the appointment of general category candidates if the reserved vacancies remain vacant. Following this judgment, other supported school managements are demanding that the same benefits be extended to them as well.
Published – 31 Jan 2026 20:58 IST
