Jayalalithaa urges Centre to treat SC Christians on a par with others Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has urged the UPA government to initiate necessary steps to include all Schedule Castes, irrespective of religion, within the ambit of the status of SCs listed in the Constitution. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, a copy of which was released to the media, Jayalalithaa said the Centre should bring in necessary legislation in the current session of Parliament to give effect to the status. "The social tensions over the status of unbalanced growth between Hindu SCs and Christian converts have only aggravated over time and the sense of alienation among the minority communities has further deepened," she said. She requested the Centre to treat SC Christians on a par with the Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists. "To enable this, as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission, paragraph 3 of the Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950, must be deleted," she said. The restrictive nature of the definition of the term Schedule Castes in paragraph 3 of the Constitution (SCs) order, 1950, is that the various welfare measures and policies designed for the SCs benefit only those amongst the SC who profess Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. A sizeable population of SCs who profess Christianity remains outside the purview of all Centrally-assisted welfare measures. They are excluded from the benefit of reservation in educational institutions and employment in public services for the SCs, she said. Noting that the writ petitions challenging the validity of the relevant paragraphs were pending in the Supreme Court, Jayalalithaa said the Centre should file its counter affidavit supporting the request of SC Christians. "Continuing to keep the benefits of reservation in education and public services out of the reach of SC Christians... is an ongoing injustice which must be ended forthwith," she said.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 07:16:12 +0000