Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Assembly committee moots special status

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Assembly Committee on Women, Children and Disabled Persons’ Welfare has recommended special status for inter-caste married couples, besides increasing the financial assistance given to these categories and their children.

The committee, in its latest report, has made this recommendation in view of the different levels of assistance given to inter-caste married couples belonging to various categories.

The committee’s recommendation to extend the benefits to children born to inter-caste married couple of which one of the parents belongs to the Scheduled Castes or Schedule Tribes has been accepted by the State government.

The government issued orders last week empowering the competent authority to issue SC/ST community certificates to children born out of inter-caste married couples of which one of the parents belonged to the SC/ST community as the case may be, besides ensuring that the claimant is subjected to the same social disabilities.

The competent authority issuing the caste certificate will also have to ensure that each case is examined individually on the basis of the prevailing circumstances and that the claimant has suffered disabilities — socially, economically and educationally.

The competent authority will have to ensure that society has accepted the claimant into its fold as one among them and is living in the same social tenet.

The committee had pointed out the discrepancy that prevailed in relation to the status of children born to inter-caste married couple, particularly one involving a person belonging to either the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes community.

Couples belonging to these sections had been enjoying benefits for decades, till the Supreme Court verdict in 2005 enjoined the State to recognise only the father’s caste while deciding the status of the children of the communities.

The committee pointed out that the Supreme Court verdict had affected several inter-caste married couples belonging to these sections. It pointed out to the dismal conditions of tribal inter-caste married women whose children were unable to claim benefits.

The committee, headed by K.K. Shylaja Teacher, pointed out that in an era of gender equality, it would be a misnomer to reckon only the father’s caste while recommending action to restore the old order. The committee had also suggested legislation to protect the benefits and if necessary even pressure the Centre on this count.

According to sources, the present government order, even while providing relief to these sections, would not stand legal scrutiny and would have to be backed with appropriate legislation. Sources said the government order had been issued after seeking the opinion of the Law Department in this reagrd. The department had ruled out the necessity of legislation.

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