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 Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to extend Scheduled Caste status to Christians of SC origin.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister on 10 February 2008, the Chief Minister wanted a bill to be introduced in Parliament for deleting Para 3 of the Constitution Order, 1950, to make SC status ‘religion-neutral’ as in the case of Scheduled Tribes. “The issue of extending SC status to Christians of SC origin assumes greater importance at this juncture,” the Chief Minister said. Urging the Centre to take immediate action on the issue, he wanted measures to give effect to the Ranganath Mishra Commission that recommended deletion of Para 3 and this was endorsed by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
The Chief Minister forwarded to Dr Manmohan Singh a representation to him by the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches expressing concern over the adjournments taken by the Central Government in the writ petition pending before the Supreme Court. Recalling that all political parties, barring Bharatiya Janata Party, promised to rectify this constitutional anomaly, the Churches Federation said it was the Congress which had to make up its mind and introduce a Bill in Parliament. Any delay or excuse might be construed that the Congress was not supporting the ‘great injustice’ meted out to Christians of SC origin. The representation recalled that the Chief Minister also promised to render justice at “an appropriate time” and this was the right time to act. (Source: Siasat, 10 February 2008) |
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