Plus-One seat shortage: Protest at meeting called by Minister Sivankutty; MSF secretary arrested

Thiruvananthapuram: The MSF State Secretary, Noufal Kulappada, was arrested by police following a protest at a meeting called by Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday. Noufal's demonstration highlighted the shortage of plus-one seats in the Malabar region.

Education Minister V. Sivankutty convened the meeting to discuss issues concerning the opening of schools. The meeting included representatives from student organizations, labour unions, and women's groups. Noufal displayed a t-shirt bearing slogans that criticised the inadequate number of higher secondary seats in Malabar. One of the slogans read, "Malabar has the right to get 45,530 seats," with an additional statement asserting that Malabar is part of Kerala.

Noufal began his protest as soon as the meeting commenced. The minister rebuked Noufal for disrupting the proceedings. When Noufal persisted with his protests, he was expelled from the hall. His protest continued outside, prompting the Cantonment Police to arrest and remove him.

The government maintains that it cannot allocate more seats in the Malabar region, stating that more seats have been approved this time compared to the previous year. Opposition parties, including the Muslim League, have protested against the decision not to increase seat allocation further, leading to Noufal’s demonstration.