The State government has requested the Justice Balakrishnan Commission to extend Scheduled Castes (SC) category status those who were converted to Christianity.
The Union government in 2022 had formed the Commission under the Chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India and former chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) K.G. Balakrishnan. The Commission members visited the Secretariat on Tuesday.
Social Welfare Minister Merugu Nagarjuna and others met the Commission to apprise the members of the State government viewpoint on the subject. “Dalits are leading miserable lives even after converting to Christianity. It is necessary to extend the SC status to Dalit Christians,” he said.
Later, addressing a press conference at Secretariat at Velagapudi near here on Tuesday, Mr. Nagarjuna said that the At present, 59 castes were in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. The SCs were subjected to discrimination in society. They converted to Christiniaty expecting social change. But there is no change in their lives. So far, the SCs who were converted to Buddhism and Sikhism were being considered as SCs. Though converted to Christianity, they were living in Dalitwadas and leading miserable lives. The government noticed the same. It was necessary to extend the same analogy to the Dalit Christians as well. These issues were brought to the notice of the Commission, he added.
