SC/ST to get quota in Kudumbashree bodies

KOCHI: Aimed at giving more opportunities to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Kudumbashree Mission will provide reservation to these categories in the elections to be conducted to the neighbourhood groups (NHG), area development societies (ADS) and community development societies (CDS). This is for the first time that reservation is being given to the SC/ST communities in the elections to the various bodies of the Kudumbashree, sources in the Department of Local Self-Government said. The government has issued a notification in this regard and the reservation will be implemented in the coming elections. The last elections to the NHGs, ADSs and CDSs were held in 2008. The election to the CDSs will be held from January 15 to 20 as per the current notification regarding reservations. However, the elections to the ADSs scheduled from January 5 to 10 will be held according to the old norms. The elections to the NHGs were also held as per the previous system.  In rural areas, 126 CDSs have been reserved for the SCs and 57 for the STs. In urban areas, 13 CDSs have been reserved for the SCs and one for the STs. Fifteen per cent of the seats are reserved for the SC category and five per cent for the ST category in the rural CDSs, excluding Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad districts. For qualifying for reservation, a CDS should have at least 20 per cent SC members. For the ST reservation, a CDS should have at least three per cent ST members. Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad districts were given special consideration by forming separate norms. In Idukki district, the rural CDSs having more than 40 per cent SC members will be reserved for them and the CDSs having 10 per cent ST members will be reserved for the ST category. In Palakkad district, rural CDSs having more than 30 per cent SC members have been reserved for them and CDSs having four per cent ST members have been reserved for the ST category. In Wayanad Rural, CDSs having more than 15 per cent SC people have been reserved for them and the CDSs having 20 per cent ST members have been reserved for the ST category. In urban areas, 13 CDSs having 20 per cent SC members have been reserved for the SC category. Kalpetta Urban CDS has been reserved for the ST category. Kudumbashree programme officer K Jagjeevan said the government had initiated this move to ensure social justice. “Kudumbashree election is a major event for the government as around 50 per cent of people in the state are part of the organisation. The reservation is aimed at bringing SC and ST communities to the leadership of the organisation,” Jagjeevan said.