Govt to set up panel to study status of Scheduled Castes converts to Christianity and Islam

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt to set up panel to study status of Scheduled Castes converts to Christianity and Islam” published in Indian Express on 19th September 2022.

What is the News?

The Government of India is all set to constitute a National Commission to study the social, economic and educational status of members of Scheduled Castes or Dalits who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Background

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order,1950 under Article 341 stipulates that no person professing a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste(SC). 

The original order under which only Hindus were classified as SCs was amended in 1956 to include Sikhs, and in 1990 to cover Buddhists.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking SC reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam. 

What has been the government’s response to this?

The Government of India is all set to constitute a National Commission to study the social, economic and educational status of members of Scheduled Castes or Dalits who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

The commission will also study the impact of adding more members to the current SC list.

Has this matter been taken up before by the government?

The matter of providing the SC quota benefits to Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam has come up before earlier governments as well. 

The Ranganath Mishra Commission’s report submitted in 2007 recommended that SC status be completely delinked from religion and be made religion-neutral like STs. 

However, the then government rejected the proposal on grounds that it was not substantiated by field studies.