Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's government has sought extending reservation benefits to Dalit Christian communities too, saying it will help them avail the benefits of social justice in all aspects.
Dalit Christians are people from Scheduled Castes (SC) who have converted to Christianity, by which they lose reservation benefits they were entitled to earlier.
“This august House urges the Government of India to make necessary amendments to the Constitution to extend statutory protection, rights and concessions including reservation as provided to the people belonging to Scheduled Castes under the Indian Constitution, also to the Scheduled Castes who have converted to Christianity, so as to enable them to avail the benefits of social justice in all aspects," the resolution moved by Stalin read.
The Tamil Nadu government’s move comes even as the Centre has refused to extend reservation benefits to Dalits who have converted to Christianity and Islam.
Stalin's son and DMK MLA Udhaynidhi Stalin praised the move, saying it was a major milestone in the journey of social justice.
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However, these reservation benefits are available to Dalits who changed their religion to Buddhism or Sikhism.
Back in December 2022, the Centre had told the SC that it was not planning to implement the recommendations made by the Justice Ranganath Misra Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities which recommended reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity and Islam.
About a month back, the YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government had moved a similar resolution to include converted Christians in Scheduled Caste reservations. It also resolved to include the Boya/ Valmiki community in the list of the Scheduled Tribes.
Jagan had then argued in the state Assembly that a person's social status doesn't change automatically on conversion to another religion.
(Edited by : Pradeep John)
First Published: Apr 19, 2023 5:31 PM IST
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