Inter-caste couples can now choose kids’ caste

CHENNAI: Putting an end to three-decade-old anomalies, the State government has ended the practice of issuing class-based community certificates to children of inter-caste couples. From now, children of parents who belong to different castes will get community certificates mentioning the caste of either of their parents, according to a recent order issued by the Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department. 

This is expected to benefit BC and MBC couples, and provide relief to partners if one of them belongs to the Arunthathiyar SC community. To encourage inter-caste marriages, the State government in 1975 allowed children of such couples to be identified with either the community of the father or mother. Besides changing the conventional practice of identifying children with their father’s caste, the move was aimed at encouraging men to marry women from ‘lower’ castes. 

The government said community certificates would be issued based on a declaration submitted by the parents, and the declaration would be applicable to all children of the couple.According to a Government Order issued in 1975, a marriage between people belonging to any two categories among BC, SC, ST and FC, would be considered as an inter-caste marriage. It did not make any reference to castes listed under the respective categories. Thus, children of inter-caste couples have been issued community certificates mentioning the four classes — BC, SC, ST and FC — without mentioning caste.

In 1989, the State government divided Backward Classes into BC and MBC, thereby creating a new category with additional reservation benefits in education and employment. Within a few years, marriages between people belonging to BC and MBC categories were also recognised as inter-caste marriages. However, Revenue officials refused to issue MBC certificates to their children since both BC and MBC castes were listed as a Backward Class in 1975. 

When a BC man marries an MBC woman, their children are entitled to MBC certificates. However, since both castes were listed as BC in 1975, such requests were turned down by Revenue authorities, and resulted in multiple litigations in the High Court. But in a few places, Revenue authorities issued the certificates. Similarly, in 2009, a separate sub-quota was introduced for Arunthathiyars in the SC category.

When a woman of the Arunthathiyar caste marries an MBC/BC/FC man, their children are given SC certificates, instead of SC (Arunthathiyar), which gets preference in the SC quota. “The government did not recognise ‘castes’ in 1975 just to eliminate the caste-based differences. Now, children of inter-caste couples will get certificates as per the latest community classification mentioning their castes,” said a senior revenue official.