Kodikkunnil Suresh urges Keralam govt. to appoint Devaswom board president from SC community

Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh has opened a fresh debate on the representation of Scheduled Castes (SC) in Keralam’s Devaswom administration by demanding that the post of the president of at least one of the State’s five Devaswom boards be given to a person from the SC community.Mr. Suresh made this demand at a programme organised here on Friday (August 28, 2026) to mark the birth anniversary of social reformer Ayyankali, in the presence of Devaswom Minister K. Muraleedharan.Keralam has five major Devaswom bodies — the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB), Malabar Devaswom Board, Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee and Koodalmanikyam Devaswom Managing Committee.‘Rewrite history’Mr. Suresh said that although SC representation exists at various levels of the Devaswom system, no person from the community had so far headed any of the five Dewasom boards as president. He urged the V.D. Satheesan government to “rewrite history” by giving a person belonging to the SC community the opportunity to head at least one of the five Devaswom bodies for a term.“Why can’t one of the chairman or president posts of the five Devaswom boards be given to a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste community for at least one term? It is not anybody’s charity, it is our genuine and legitimate right,” Mr. Suresh said. He added that his demand assumed greater significance on Ayyankali’s birth anniversary.Representation of SC community in the Dewaswom boards in Keralam already exists through reservation in staff appointments as well as in the appointment of temple priests. However, till now there have been no statutory reservations for the top post of Dewaswom president and the appointment is usually decided by the government.Minister’s responseMr. Muraleedharan, who later responded to the media, said the government will consider the demand raised by Mr. Suresh.He added that as a senior leader, Mr. Suresh’s recommendation is not something that can be dismissed outright.Mr. Muraleedharan pointed out that the existing Dewaswom boards have over a year left in their terms and that the government still had time to consider the demand raised by Mr. Suresh. Published - August 28, 2026 06:43 pm IST