Centre mulls Commission to study status of SC members converted to Islam, Christianity
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New Delhi: The Centre is planning to conduct a survey of members of Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, who have converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, to study their social, economic and education status.
A national commission will be constituted in this regard under the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), with the support of other ministries such as Home, Law, Social Justice and Empowerment, and Finance, a The Indian Express report said.
The move is said to have been viewed as relevant in the backdrop of several pending cases before the Supreme Court, seeking the benefits of reservation for SC to people who have converted to Islam and Christianity.
Under Article 341 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, people who profess a religion other than Hinduism shall not be deemed members of a Scheduled Caste. In 1956, the order was amended to include Sikhs; later in 1990, Buddhists were also added.
According to the TIE report, the chairman of the proposed commission will enjoy a rank of a Union Cabinet Minister and will be heading a team of three to four members. The Commission is said to have a year to submit the report after completing the study.
The Commission is expected to study the impact of including more people in the current list of SC, in addition to mapping the changes in the status and situation of converted Dalits.
The proposed Commission will look only at the socio-economic status of the converted SCs since there is no religion-specific mandate for STs and the OBCs.
The rights of a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe are independent of his/her religious faith," states the DoPT website. Besides, following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, several Christian and Muslim communities have found a place in the Central or states' lists of OBCs.
"Among the key benefits available to the SC community is 15 per cent reservation for direct recruitment in Central government jobs with 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent quota for OBCs," the TIE report said.