Should converts be included in SC/ST category? Meet sparks off reservation debate

Opening the discussion held at the ICSSR Seminar Hall at Panjab University on Wednesday,Ram Nath Kovind,former Rajya Sabha member,said the government has not tabled the report in Parliament as it was yet undecided about its consequences.

K S Raju,retired IAS officer,however,found no problem with the recommendation as long as the current proportion was maintained.

Retired bureaucrat S C Tulsi said implementing the Mishra Commission recommendations was a complex and exhaustive process and would take years for implementation.

T R Sarangal,a senior IAS officer,however,welcomed any proposal to include “our brethren from other religions”. He said: “We have no religion,we are all converts.”

Retracing the history of reservation,a retired IPS officer of Haryana,H R Swan,said untouchability was only a tradition of Hindus and Muslims while Christians could not come under the Scheduled Castes under any criteria.

Opposing the move,retired IAS officer Som Prakash said it has become a political issue and Muslims and Christians have in the past opposed their inclusion in the reservation list on the ground that they do not believe in untouchability.

IAS officer R K S Pawar supported reservation for converts but also called for increasing the quota based on proportional representation in the population.

Manch convener Vijay Sampla argued that the members of Scheduled Castes,who converted to Christianity or Islam,did so for getting more facilities,especially better education for their children.

Winding up the discussion,Niranjan Singh,chairman,Punjab Scheduled Caste Commission,suggested that there was a need to institutionalise the forum and meet more regularly.