LPST rank holders

LPST rank holders are candidates who have secured a place on the rank list for Lower Primary School Teacher posts in Kerala and are waiting for appointment. A group of them has held an indefinite protest in front of the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, which had entered its 128th day on 10 November 2026.

Their central demand is an appointment ratio of 1:25 in LPST recruitment, and they want the government to make as many appointments as possible before the rank list expires. Malayalam Daily News reports that about 11,000 candidates are on the state’s LPST rank lists and that only a few receive appointments while many wait for years.

The strike committee convener, S. Valarmathi, took the LPST exam three times before reaching the list. She began an indefinite hunger strike and had gone without food for more than 16 days by 10 November. Late on Wednesday 11 November, police dismantled the protest tent and took her to hospital. Another leader, Jayakrishnan, said he would go on a hunger strike in her place, and the candidates said they would continue the protest. The South First reported that the protest had intensified after the government sought 45 days to examine the issue. No government response to the police action was reported.

Sources: The South First, Malayalam Daily News, Onmanorama.