A fresh round of transfers and postings at the Cochin Devaswom Board has intensified a conflict between Congress-affiliated employee unions, with both factions approaching the Chief Minister, the Devaswom Minister and party leadership with complaints.
The reported administrative actions include the transfer of P.R. Sujaya, a head clerk at the Thrissur Assistant Commissioner’s Office, and A. Suresh, a revenue inspector in the Thiruvilwamala group. Both are executive committee members of the Cochin Devaswom Employees Congress. The transfers were issued even though only about five months had passed since their previous postings, according to the report.
The order was issued on the 22nd by N.S. Ramya, deputy secretary acting for the Devaswom Commissioner. The order also removed the additional charge of Kulassery Devaswom held by Prashanth R. Nair, general secretary of the Employees Congress and junior Devaswom officer at Neithalakkavu.
The developments have been presented by the rival faction as evidence of selective administrative action. The Employees Staff Congress, a breakaway Congress union formed about two months ago, has received a significant appointment for its leader M. Ranjith, who was posted as Junior Superintendent (General) at the Board headquarters. The opposing union has alleged that Ranjith had previously faced disciplinary action, including the withholding of three cumulative increments and suspension, over what it described as serious lapses.
Another unusual order reportedly placed an active member of the breakaway union, who works at a temple, at the Board headquarters on a working arrangement. The report said that temple employees had generally been moved to administrative sections in such arrangements only when they faced physical disabilities. The latest transfer list also includes an employee who has been transferred three times within a year and an officer posted to a distant location several months after her husband’s death.
The Cochin Devaswom Board is governed by the Left, while the report alleges that the Left union leadership has indirectly supported the breakaway Congress union. It also states that the Board gave silent approval to transfers carried out directly by the Devaswom Commissioner. These allegations have not been accompanied in the supplied report by a detailed public response from the Board or the officials named in the orders.
The dispute comes as preparations are expected to begin for a referendum to determine recognition among the Board’s employee unions. The union conflict therefore carries administrative significance beyond the individual transfers, as the outcome could influence formal representation within the institution. The two sides have already taken their complaints to the Chief Minister, the Devaswom Minister and party leadership, according to the report.
