LPST rank holders' agitation resumes in front of Kerala secretariat

According to a report by The Hindu newspaper, the agitation by the All Kerala Lower Primary School Teachers (LPST) Rank Holders Association in front of the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram has reached its 130th day. Dramatic scenes unfolded outside the secretariat again on Thursday as association secretary S. Valarmathi returned to the protest site to resume her indefinite hunger strike after being forcibly removed by police due to deteriorating health on Wednesday night. Protests had reached a peak on Wednesday night when the Cantonment police forcibly removed S. Valarmathi and dismantled the protesters' shed and flex boards.

S. Valarmathi was on the 16th day of her hunger strike when police moved her to the General Hospital. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, she stated that she would not back down until the government accepted their demands. She added that if the government was concerned about her health, it should take the initiative to resolve the strike. Another rank holder, M. Jayakrishnan, who had started a hunger strike in place of S. Valarmathi on Wednesday night, will also continue his indefinite hunger strike.

Widespread protests were triggered due to the police action on Wednesday night. Youth Morcha and DYFI workers, as well as CPI(M) leaders P.K. Biju and C.S. Sujatha, reached the spot. After the police removed the original sheds, DYFI leaders quickly stepped in and erected replacement sheds. Police stated that they had served notices to the protesters during the day regarding the removal of the shed and flex boards. They also said that they had only removed the permanent shed erected by protesters at the spot where the fast was underway.

Following the police action on Wednesday night, the strike appeared to receive heavy political support. On Thursday, the opposition united to support the protest and condemned the government's attempts to suppress the agitation. Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala stated that the government had no animosity towards the protesters. He mentioned that the police were forced to remove the protesters' shed to avoid contempt of court proceedings following a recent Supreme Court ruling against the indefinite occupation of public roads and spaces for protests, and its directive to clear obstructions on public thoroughfares.

He added that the police have been continuously facing the ire of courts for not complying with court directives on such issues. Mr. Chennithala stated that the government had accepted four out of the five main demands raised by the protesters and appealed to them to call off the strike. LPST rank holders launched the protest due to delays in appointing candidates from the Kerala Public Service Commission (Kerala PSC) rank list for Lower Primary School Teacher (LPST) posts, along with demands for changes in the teacher recruitment system and the teacher-student ratio.

What began as a demand for appointment orders has now turned into a broader dispute over how educational vacancies are calculated, when they are reported, and how they are filled. LPST rank lists for all 14 districts came into force on 31 May 2025. According to reports, there are approximately 11,758 candidates in this list, but by August, fewer than 500 candidates had been appointed. Rank holders believe that recruitment is much lower than usual, and thousands of eligible aspirants are facing uncertainty over whether they will secure government jobs before the validity of the list expires.