Asking the Home Minister to resolve the matter at the earliest, Rodrigues shot off a letter to him saying, “The matter is pending with the Government of India since long. As per the government’s instructions dated March 22, 1977, a person is eligible for the grant of SC certificate, if he is a permanent resident in the relevant state/ UT, on the date of Presidential Notification. In the case of Chandigarh, the date of notification is November 1, 1966. Thus, persons belonging to SC, born after November 1, 1966, are not issued SC certificate”.

Chandigarh Administration has been taking up the matter with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Home Affairs since 1998. However, despite several meetings, nothing concrete came up. Even Rodrigues wrote a letter to the then Home Minister on March 3, 2005; which too did not bring about any result.

Ministry of Home Affairs asked Chandigarh Administration to submit a revised draft scheme, which should be simple and also solve the peculiar problem of Chandigarh, without creating complications elsewhere in the country. Accordingly a draft scheme was worked out in consultation with the ministry and forwarded on September 29, 2006.

“Since no decision has been taken by the Government of India on the issue, persons belonging to SC are facing great difficulties in availing the benefits of reservation,” Rodrigues wrote, adding the solution could be a part of the government’s 100 days programme.

The census of 2001 lists the SC population in Chandigarh at 17.5 per cent. While the Government of India’s instructions issued on November 18, 1982 say that SC certificates can be issued to migrants, the instructions do not address the matter of the issuance of SC certificates to future generations of the migrants.

A section of SC migrants did not get caste certificate from their state of origin at the initial stage of their migration or thereafter.

Now, these migrants, who have settled in Chandigarh for more than 30 years, are unable to get proof of residence from their state of origin, as they have severed links with it.

The SC certificate issue became one of the most important issues during the recent Lok Sabha elections, when all the political parties slammed the Administration for not doing enough for the SC population.