Kerala: Contrary to BJP chant, Muslims are under-represented in govt service
While Christians and “upper caste” Hindus constitute more than 43% of state government employees, just 13.51% Muslims have government jobs, says official data
Contrary to the oft-repeated claims by the so-called “upper caste” organisations that they are ignored by the state governments, it turns out that the Hindu Savarnas make up the major chunk — approximately 22 per cent — of government employees in Kerala. This was recently revealed through data presented in the state Assembly.
The unreserved forward category, which includes Christians and ‘upper caste’ Hindus, constitute more than 43 per cent of the state government employees.
These statistics were provided by the former minister for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe welfare, K Radhakrishnan, on June 25 in response to a question by P Ubaidulla of the Indian Union Muslim League.
What the data says
Out of 5.45 lakh permanent government employees, those from Savarna Hindu communities’ number 1.08 lakh, which are predominantly Nairs. There are 7,112 Brahmin employees and 2,765 from the Ambalavasi (a group of castes among Hindus in Kerala who have traditionally rendered temple services) category.
The Ezhava community has 1.15 lakh government employees, representing 21.09 per cent of the total, while Muslim employees number 73,774, constituting 13.52 per cent.
Affluent Christians in state service total 73,714, making up 21.01 per cent of the employees. Latin Catholic employees number 22,542, with a 4.13 per cent share. There are also 2,399 employees who converted to Christianity and 929 from the Nadar Christian community.
Collectively, Christians constitute 18.25 per cent of government staff. Scheduled Caste employees’ number 51,783, and Scheduled Tribe employees total 10,513. An additional 955 employees did not belong to any specific category.
Muslims under-represented
According to demographic data, the Muslim community in Kerala is under-represented in government service. The 2011 census indicates that Muslims constitute 26.56 per cent of the state's population, yet their representation in government service is only 13.51 per cent.
In contrast, many other communities have higher representation than their demographic proportion. This discrepancy highlights a misinformation campaign by certain groups that falsely portray Muslims in a negative light and accuse the Kerala state government of appeasement policies.
“These claims are baseless, as the data clearly show that Muslims have significantly lower representation in government positions than their population share,” said Sathar Panthalloor, state vice-president of the Samasta Kerala Sunni student’s federation (SKSSF).
“The state government developed a web portal named eCDESK (e-Caste Database of Employees in Service Kerala) in 2017 to determine the community representation of government employees. It has been updated since 2018, and the government is seriously considering making this information available to the general public through its website,” said former minister K Radhakrishnan in the Assembly.
Earlier panel report
The earlier attempt to identify community representation in government service was made when the LDF government of 2000 appointed a commission to study and report on the representation of Backward Classes in Kerala's state public services.
Headed by Justice KK Narendran, a former judge of the Kerala high court, the commission included TM Savan Kutty, former chairman of the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC), and KV Rabindran Nair, former chief secretary.
After one-and-a-half years of study, the panel submitted its final report in September 2001, during the tenure of the Congress-led UDF government headed by AK Antony.
The commission's two-part report was based on data collected from various sources, including the KPSC and heads of 299 different wings, such as government departments, public sector undertakings, universities, and autonomous institutions. The process faced challenges due to delays in receiving the necessary data from various sources.
BCs exceeded quota
In 2001, the Narendran Commission had found out that out of 3,25,554 employees in all government departments and the judiciary, 1,57,008 (as of August 1, 2001) were from Backward Classes.
This indicates that the Backward Classes collectively held 48.23 per cent of the total posts, compared to 38.73 per cent held by affluent communities. The total reservation quota for Backward Classes was then 40 per cent.
According to the commission report, Ezhavas held 20.41 per cent of government posts, while Muslims constituted 10.45 per cent. Nadars occupied 1.90 per cent, and the Viswakarma community had 2.91 per cent.
Latin Catholics and Anglo-Indians made up 3.14 per cent, and Converted Christians represented 0.78 per cent. On the other hand, the group, consisting of 68 communities, accounted for only 7.46 per cent.
The commission's findings revealed that while Backward Classes (BCs) collectively exceeded their job reservation quotas, the distribution of this benefit was uneven among various backward communities.
Additionally, within these communities, the representation varied across different employment categories. This disparity highlighted the need for a more balanced approach to ensuring equitable job distribution among all backward communities.
In a nutshell, the Narendran Commission had highlighted that Kerala's government service sector should include an additional 7,353 posts for the Muslim community, 1,256 for Dheevaras, 2,614 for Nadars, 460 for Ezhavas, 4,370 for Latin Catholics, and 2,290 for Converted Christians. Since this situation existed in 2000, various BC bodies, led by Muslim organisations, have been advocating for special recruitment drives to address these backlog vacancies.
No favouritism
Ever since the Narendran commission submitted its report, the right-wing Hindu organisations, including NSS and Kerala Bhrahmana Sabha, were against it pointing out that the commission had “recommended additional hiring quota, job reservation, and preferential college admission for Muslims, Latin and converted Christians”.
In the two decades since the Narendran Commission report, the representation of Muslims in Kerala's state government service has improved from 10.45 per cent to 13.51 per cent, Ezhavas from 20.41 per cent to 21.09 per cent, and Latin Catholics from 3.14 per cent to 4.13 per cent. The upper strata representation including Savarna Hindus and affluent Christians collectively went up to more than 43 per cent.
The narrative that Muslims receive all the benefits in Kerala has been repeatedly amplified and disseminated by the BJP during every election period, specifically targeting the Muslim community. However, with the latest figures now available, this claim has been thoroughly debunked.
The data clearly shows that Muslims are under-represented in government positions compared to their population share, dispelling the false claims of undue favouritism.