Ex-CJI to head panel on quota for Dalit converts

The Union government has formed a three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan to examine whether Scheduled Caste (SC) status can be granted groups that claim to have been Dalits in the past, but converted to a religion that excluded them from SC quota.

The Union government has formed a three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan to examine whether Scheduled Caste (SC) status can be granted groups that claim to have been Dalits in the past, but converted to a religion that excluded them from SC quota.

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Currently, the constitutional right to reservations in jobs and education as a member of the SC community is extended only to people from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist faiths, in accordance to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. But activists have argued for decades that the umbrella of reservation should be extended to Dalit people who have converted to Christianity or Islam.

A gazette notification by the Union social justice and empowerment ministry on Thursday said the new panel — which also includes retired civil servant Ravinder Kumar Jain and University Grants Commission member Sushma Yadav — will look into the matter within a time period of two years.

“This is a seminal and historically complex sociological and constitutional question and a definite matter of public importance,” the two-page document said.

The notification said certain groups raised the question of revisiting the existing definition of Scheduled Caste according the status to people who belonged to religions beyond those permitted by presidential orders. It also said that some groups belonging to the category had objected to the inclusion of new groups.

“Given the importance, sensitivity and potential impact, any change in definition in this regard should be on the basis of a detailed and definitive study and extensive consultation with stakeholders,” the notification added.

The document gave the panel a fourfold term of reference. The first is to examine the matter of according SC status to people who claim to have historically been Dalit but converted to faiths other than the ones mentioned in presidential orders. The second is to examine the implications of any such possible move on existing SC groups. The third is to examine the changes SC people go through on converting to other religions in terms of customs, traditions, social, and other status discrimination and deprivation. The fourth is to examine any related question, with the consent of the central government.

India constitutionally mandates 15% reservation for SCs in government jobs and educational institution. Paragraph (3) of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 says, “…no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism shall be deemed to be a member of a scheduled caste.” But activists argue that Dalit people within the folds of Islam or Christianity experience caste-based discrimination on account of their birth status, and, therefore, they should be eligible for SC status.

In 2004, the government set up a panel headed by former CJI Ranganath Misra to explore the issue of granting SC status to religious communities other than Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. The panel, which submitted its report in 2007, recommended that the 1950 order was discriminatory, but was not accepted by the government.

There is no data on the number of Dalit Christians or Dalit Muslims, though in a number of states, lower-caste Muslim groups find a place in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) bracket.

Balakrishnan was CJI between 2007 and 2010, becoming the first Dalit person to rise to the position. He was also chairman of the National Human Rights Commission between 2010 and 2015.