Thiruvananthapuram: Half the number of the new office-bearers of the District Congress Committees (DCCs) and block presidents of the party will be below 50 years of age. A meeting of the State reorganisation committee of the party has decided to implement this condition strictly.
Of the total number of DCC and block office-bearers, half the number will be women, members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, and backward classes. The remaining 50% of the office-bearers will be chosen from other age groups.
The meeting concluded that with this condition being implemented strictly, the reorganisation process would get rejuvenated. Almost all the lists of nominees received from districts at present are jumbo panels. Once this condition is made applicable, the names of nominees could be cut short on a large scale. The chairpersons of local self-governments will not be considered for the posts of office-bearers of the DCCs and presidentship of the block unit.
The committee which finalised the conditions, began codifying the panels on those basis. In the first phase, lists for districts such as Kannur, Kasaragod, and Kozhikode were scrutinised in accordance with the conditions. At first, those who fall outside the conditions will be removed from the lists of all districts. Detailed discussions on each of the names will be conducted only after this process.
The meeting also decided to choose constituency presidents along with the reorganisation of the DCCs and blocks. The district reorganisation committees must choose the constituency presidents before May 15. The leadership of DCCs could finalise the recommendations of these committees. However, the announcements of names would be subject to the approval of the State level reorganisation committee and the leadership of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Stress on efficiency and merit
The party leadership is of the view that the discussions that efficiency and merit should be taken into account for appointing the office-bearers. Only those with party loyalty, efficiency in work and organisational ability should be considered. They could be from any group. However, no one will be made an office-bearer on the basis of his group loyalty.
The committee members Kodikunnel Suresh, AP Anil Kumar, Joseph Vazhakkan, T Siddique, K Jayanth, and M Liju took part in the meeting. Senior leader K C Joseph could not arrive as he was unwell. The next meeting will be held after May 15. It was also decided to conduct online discussions during the interim period.
The effort of the Congress is to choose DCC, block, and constituency office-bearers before May 15.
