New Delhi: Christian groups have welcomed St Stephen's quota for Dalit Christians, terming it as an historic move.

(The following is the text of the Statement issued by Dr John Dayal and Mr Prashant Solomon at a Meeting organised by Christian groups at the India International Centre on 23 June 2007 to honour St Stephan's College, Delhi, its acting Principal Rev Valson Thampu, Chairman if its Supreme Council Rt Rev Bishop Karam Masih, CNI Bishop of Delhi, and Catholic Nun and Jesus and Mary College Principal Sr Marina for their affirmative action in assuring education of excellence for the youth of the underprivileged and the marginalized.

The meeting was organised by All India Catholic Union, All India Christian Council and the United Christian Action, the Delhi group founded by Christian Alumni of St Stephen's College. National Minorities President Ambassador Hamid Ansari Presided over. Delhi Catholic Archbishop Most Rev Vincent M Concessao was the Chief Guest.

Apart from Bishop Karam Masih and Rev Valson Thampu, guests of honour, who also spoke, were Union labour Minster Oscar Fernandes, Delhi Minorities Commission Chairperson Faruqui, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president and former union minister Salman Khursheed, former Chief whip of the congress in the Lok Sabha Sangtam. Other speakers included Child rights activist Joseph Gathia, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties lawyer M Pancholi, and St Stephens Alumni association secretary Arvind Mehtrotra. Dr John Dayal gave the welcome address and Law scholar and journalist Prashant Solomon, organsing secretary of United Christian Action, delivered a vote of thanks. Fr Dominic Emmanuel SVD and Spokesman of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese was the master of ceremonies at the House-full meeting.)

We welcome as 'historic' the move by St Stephen's College to give preferential admissions to brilliant students from the Dalit Christian community in the prestigious institution of higher learning. St Stephen's College has become among the first Church-constituted Institution to take this long due affirmative action which will go a long way in undoing long-held prejudices against Christians from the erstwhile depressed classes and scheduled castes in north and south India.

We also welcome the New Education Policy announced by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India which reaffirms the commitment of the Church to the education of the marginalised. These moves will go a long way in removing the impression that the Church runs only elite schools for the rich and powerful without concern for the poor. These revolutionary measures will also go a long way in the empowerment of 60 per cent of the Indian Christian community who had fallen out of the development net of the Church and were also ignored by the State. These steps are also in keeping with the recent recommendations of the Justice Rangnath Misra National Commission for religious and Linguistic Minorities which had said Dalit Christians [and Dalit Muslims] must be given scheduled caste status and privileges given to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits.

We call upon both the State and the Church to ensure quality education through well equipped schools and modern curricula in districts, towns and Dioceses where Dalit Christians are in reasonable numbers. This willing keeping with the spirit of the recommendations made for the Muslim community by the Prime Minster's Special committee on Minorities headed by Justice Rajinder Sachchar which gave its report some months ago.

We are distressed at the extremely motivated, and oft verging on the communal, public and media campaign that has been launched against St Stephen's College and against Rev Valson Thampu, who is together with Archbishop Vincent Concessao and Dr John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council. The allegations and mischief of disinformation is best countered by recalling Rev Thampu's excellent recapitulation of the Calling of Stephens. We quote from the document: "Principal Mukherjee used to go out into the rural areas of Punjab to urge poor Christians to come to St Stephen's ... CF Andrews taught in St. Stephen's College from 1904-1914. He was easily the most distinguished member of the faculty. Yet, the then Principal SK Rudra motivated him to join Gandhiji in the Phoenix Settlement in the South. The College was willing to lose 'prestige' for the sake of its wider vision and commitment. This is just one instance of the breadth of vision that underlies the greatness of St Stephen's College.

The College is duty-bound to remain sensitive and responsive to the unfolding saga of nation building. We note with pride that the Central Government is committed to empowering the SC/ST as well as the economically and socially backward classes of our country. It is a sacred and timely mission which St Stephen's College feels urged to endorse and emulate. Even though Article 15(5) exempts all minority educational institutions from the reservation policies of the State, we in St. Stephen's want to be a part, voluntarily, of this commitment to social justice. St Stephen's College cannot, and does not want to, be unmindful of the movement to build the India that Gandhiji dreamt: the "the India of our dreams".

Minority rights are not meant to create a special class of citizens, but to enable numerically handicapped religious collectivities to preserve their script and religious culture in a way harmonious with the ethos of the Indian Constitution, which dreams of a caste-less and class-less society where all people are free to develop and find fulfilment. St Stephen's College cannot afford to be blind to this national goal. We have to contribute our mite to the glorious destiny of India. It is our conviction that practising social justice and pursuing excellence at the same time is the best we can do in this regard.

St Stephen's College also has a duty to develop the members of the Christian community and prepare them to participate in nation-building. An under-developed community cannot be an asset to the nation. A nation is only as developed as its least developed community is. The Christian community in the North is at least as under-developed as the Muslims and Neo-Buddhists are. This is the backdrop against which the review of admission policy has been initiated."

The Supreme Council of the College, which is the highest policy making body, has enunciated the following policy guidelines to guide admissions 2007-2008. (a) Admissions from the General Category be 40% (b) Admissions from the Christian Community: 40%, of which 25% [i.e.10% of the total seats] to be set apart for Dalit Christians. The Dalit status of the applicants to be decided on the basis of the certificates issued by the authorities of the Church. (c) Admissions from SC/ST, Physically Challenged candidates and wards of war victims be 15% in all. (d) Sports 5% All admissions will be based on inter-se merit, as stipulated by the Supreme Court.