The Nilgiris district committee for Ezhava and Thiyya rights has appealed to the district administration to expedite the granting of community certificates to members of the two communities.

In a petition to District Collector, K. Vijayan, an office-bearer of the committee, stated that the Ezhava and Thiyya communities were finally accorded Backward Class status by the State government after a more than three-decade long struggle. Mr. Vijayan urged the district administration to take into account that the academic year for school students was about to start, and wanted the administration to expedite the granting of certificates to members of the community.

“Moreover, as Ezhava and Thiyya youth have not been able to get community certificates for over 35 years, we request the government to also ensure that some of them get exceptions from having to produce the certificates when applying for government jobs or when applying to educational institutions,” he said.

The district committee for Ezhava and Thiyya rights also appealed to the government to form a panel comprising members of the two communities to grant the community certificates. They also appealed to the government to ensure that the community certificates of the parents of the applicants not be demanded by the government when according the certificates.

“As thousands of people will have to be granted community certificates, we also appeal to the government to organise camps to grant the certificates,” said Mr. Vijayan.