Church delegation meets Andhra CM on SC status issue

A church delegation on Saturday met Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, urging him to write a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending the extension of Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians.

The delegation of the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches (APFC) appealed to the chief minister to support the Dalit cause so justice could be doled out with the matter coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

They informed the chief minister that the Ranganath Misra Commission and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) had recommended the deletion of Para 3 of the SC Order of 1950 to extend reservation benefits to all irrespective of religion.

"Almost all political parties wrote to the Govt. of India to extend SC Status to Christians of SC origin. Late Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekara Reddy as well had written to the Prime Minister and the Chairperson of UPA in 2008 strongly supporting the cause," they added.

The chief minister has assured the delegation that he would look into the demands and address them in the best possible manner.

The delegation was composed of Bishop Kanaka Prasad of the CSI Medak Diocese, Bishop Ernest Komanapalli of Pentecostal Churches, Fr Alex Raju, Hyderabad Archdiocesan Secretary of Commission for SC ST BC, Mr G. Alfred IPS (Retd), Chairman of the United Front for Dalit Christian Rights (UFDCR), and Mr Bal Reddy, President of Catholic Samakaiya.

Besides SC status to Dalit Christians, the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches also demanded the representation of a Christian member in the A.P. Public Service Commission (APPSC).

"It was brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that there was no representation of the Christian Community for a very long time in the APPSC while persons from other minority communities are made members in it. Hence, APFC requested the chief minister to include a Christian member during the vacancies arising soon as this is crucial to promote employment of all minority communities as desired by the Congress Government at the Centre and the State," said Fr Dr Anthoniraj Thumma, Executive Secretary of APFC.