THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When almost all communities are keen to include their communities for claiming job reservation, a community has launched a new organisation to persuade its members not to claim reservation benefits any more.
Kerala Vaishya Kshema Sabha, a splinter group of the Kerala Vanika Vaishya Sangham, has come up with the demand to its community members not to accept reservation benefits any more.
Sabha president Punalur P Ramaswami, general secretary Sureshbabu N Vazhoor and treasurer K A Krishan Chettiyar told a news conference here that they were followers of Kannaki Devi and were following the same rituals as that of Brahmana communities. They claimed that their community was upper caste.
Asked whether they had the support of the entire Vaishaya community, they said they had launched a membership campaign. When pressed to say as to whether the entire community shared their view on forgoing quota for jobs, they replied that they wanted economic reservation as they were an upper caste community.
They said it was the Vanika community who wanted to stick on with their OBC status. In protest against the Vanika Vaishya community leader’s decision to continue as OBC, they had decided to part company and form a new sabha claiming as upper caste. The sabha had been registered with the number 369/2011.
They said that a meeting of the sabha held in Kottayam had elected the office-bearers. They have also decided to join the all-India organisation for Vaishyas.
However, they wanted the government to include their representatives in the Devaswom Boards and be granted rights to perform traditional art forms like Vilpattu, Kumbakudam and Kuthiyottam in temples.
They also wanted the Vilpattu artistes to be granted pension. A memorandum will be submitted to the government in this regard, they said.