Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition UDF-led Secretariat Association struck work on Thursday to protest against the government decision to roll out Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) from January 1. Kerala Secretariat Association claimed that their strike was successful as majority of the staff had supported the call. According to association general secretary Sreekumar T, the employees had extended support to their agitation as they knew that KAS would adversely affect their promotion prospects.
The association leaders claimed that only 12 per cent staff attended office on Thursday. The secretariat staff organisations are opposing KAS as they believe that it would seriously affect the structure and the very existence of the Secretariat service besides their promotion avenues.
The members of the Secretariat Association took out a march in front of the secretariat and raised slogans against the government decision. The association decided to continue the strike in a work to rule mode. The Cabinet on Tuesday had approved special rules of Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) paving the way for a new state administrative cadre from January 1, 2018.
The pro-LDF staff organisations, however, have welcomed the government decision to rollout KAS. They believe that the decision to launch an exclusive state service cadre will go a long way in improving the service delivery mechanism besides providing an opportunity to the youth and those in service, to opt for gazetted posts under KAS. The Left staff leaders said the LDF Government had fulfilled the promise made to the people to inject fresh blood into the middle level bureaucracy.
