Tamil plantation workers denied caste certificates (Indian Express)
"Hundreds of Tamil families, descendants of those who had sought refuge in the tea and rubber plantations in the Aryankavu-Thenmala belt on the western fringe of Kollam district during the pre-Independence era, are being denied caste certificate for the last two years and are, thus, shut out of education, jobs and land and housing schemes for the poor.
"To get a certificate, they are now being asked to produce documents to show that their ancestors had settled in the state before 1950. But the plantations, the only places where such records could be found, have lost them."
See also:
'No degree if caste certificate is fake' (Times of India, April 9, 2008):
"Coming down heavily on those who secure admission to professional courses through forged SC/ST certificates, the Supreme Court has warned that the erring student is liable to be stripped of the degree."
Fake caste certificates is no big deal. Even castes in the past were fluid. Many sudras became kshatrya, vaishya and brahmin and vice versa. Many of the tribes were included in the varna order. So why all this fuss. I know of many people from Scheduled Caste who have a net worth of 100 crores+ and their children avail of reservations. Caste based reservation itself is a farce. So a farce within a farce is no big deal. Even if there is a big racket in fake caste certificates it would not make any difference to social justice and all those high sounding words politicians talk about.
Posted by: chintaka | June 05, 2009 at 05:08 AM