The Centre has extended the tenure of a commission formed to recommend whether Scheduled Caste status should be granted to Dalits who had converted to religions other than Buddhism and Sikhism, at a time Ambedkarites are divided over
the proposal.

The Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission was set up in October 2022 to consider all the aspects of the possible grant of SC status to “new persons, who claim to historically have belonged to SCs but have converted to religion other than those mentioned in the presidential orders issued from time to time under Article 341 of the Constitution”.

A presidential order of 1950 put only Dalits from the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities on the SC list.

The commission has not finished its report, mandated to be submitted by October 10 this year. Its tenure has therefore been extended to October 10 next year, the social justice and empowerment ministry has said in a notification.

Sociologist Bibhuti Bhushan Mallik, a professor at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow, opposed the grant of SC status to Dalits from outside the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities.

Such a move would deny the “real Dalits” their rightful claim on the State’s support, meant to bring them into the “mainstream”, he said.

“The basis for the categorisation of certain castes as SC is the untouchability they have had to face for generations. Dalits who converted to religions like Islam or Christianity did not have to face untouchability any more,” Mallik said.

“If some of them are facing socioeconomic deprivation, they may be classified as Other Backward Classes.”

The 15 per cent reservation that SCs are entitled to in central government jobs, admission to central educational institutions and Lok Sabha seats is based on their share of the population at the time of Independence, Mallik said.

However, their population share has already risen to 16.6 per cent and, if Christian and Muslim Dalits are granted SC status, the competition for reservation benefits will increase further, he argued.

The Constitution gives minorities the right to set up and administer institutions of their choice, where the Supreme Court has allowed up to 50 per cent reservation for them, Mallik said.

“Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians already get reservation benefits at minority educational institutions. If they are given SC status, they will take a slice of the pie meant for the real Dalits and affect the process of the mainstreaming of the real Dalits,” Mallik said.

Anil Wagde, an Ambedkarite, said the government proposal was justified since Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims continued to face discrimination after conversion. However, implementing the proposal would pose challenges,
he said.

“Converted Dalits face discrimination, having not been integrated into the Christian community at large. Converted Buddhists faced similar discrimination, and the government granted them SC status in 1989. The same logic applies to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims,” he said.

“The real challenge is how to identify the converted Dalits. Another challenge is increasing the volume of (SC) reservation, with a sub-quota for the newly inducted Christian and Muslim SCs.”

A scholar who has researched social discrimination but did not want to be quoted said that accepting the proposal would help the BJP in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha, which have witnessed higher rates of Dalit conversions to Christianity.

“Dalit Christians and Pasminda Muslims make up a significant share of the Christian and Muslim populations. They converted to Christianity or Islam to gain equality, which they did not get,” he said. “The BJP will support this proposal and gain politically.”