Centre sets up panel on SC status for Dalit converts

The Centre has set up a 3-member panel to examine the issue of granting 'Scheduled Caste' status to Dalits who converted to other religions, mainly Christianity and Islam.

Former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan-headed panel will have IAS (retd) Ravinder Kumar Jain and UGC member Sushma Yadav as its members. The panel has two years' time to submit a report.

It will examine the merits of giving SC status to Dalit converts, the implications of such a move on other SC communities and the socio-economic changes brought about by conversion.


As on date, while Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits get the SC status, Christians or Muslims don't get it, as per the presidential orders issued under Article 341 of the Constitution.

It has been held by the government that the SC status is linked with the practice of untouchability, which is prevalent only in Hinduism. Amendments were later made to include Sikhism and Buddhism.

Two petitions filed in the Supreme Court by Christian groups in January and March 2020 challenged the existing orders and demanded that SC status be 'religion neutral'. The SC had issued a notice to the Centre in 2020.

The Centre, which was considering setting up a commission for the last few months, had completed inter-ministerial discussions in May, as reported by ET.