VT Balram remarks about EWS reservation 'misleading': Syro Malabar Church

Kochi, Aug 24 (PTI) The Syro Malabar Church on Sunday opposed KPCC vice president V T Balram's recent remarks about EWS reservation, terming it "factually incorrect and misleading".

The Public Affairs Commission of the Syro Malabar Church, in a statement, said that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president's remarks on Facebook alleges that ineligible forward Christian students got admission in government medical colleges in the state through the EWS reservation.

It claimed that the Congress leader's post also states that the Muslim community in Kerala ought to have got more seats, but did not due to the reservation for the economically weaker section (EWS).

The church's Public Affairs Commission was referring to Balram's recent FB post in which he said "the EWS community was benefiting more from reservation than Muslims, backward Hindus including Ezhavas, and backward Christians".

He had also said that Muslims, who constitute about 27 per cent of the population, have only 8 per cent reservation in the field of professional education, while there is 10 percent reservation for EWS categories, which constitute only 22-23 per cent of the population.

Balram had suggested that all the poor should be given opportunity in the EWS category irrespective of caste or religion.

Referring to his remarks, the church commission said that it will lead to creation of forward and backward divisions within the Christian community.

It further said that while the majority of Christians do not come under any caste-based reservation, everyone in the Muslim community enjoys benefits of the OBC or SEBC reservation.

"It is only with the coming of the EWS category that a big section of the Christian community who were facing various challenges received the reservation benefits," it said and contended that "criticising such initiatives through false statements was unconstitutional".

The church commission called for creating public awareness about vote bank politics in the name of reservation in Kerala.

It also said that reservation should be only for the backward sections of the society. PTI HMP HMP ROH