In TN, children of inter-caste couple can opt for ‘caste’ of either parent

Government issues an order giving clarification on 1975 G.O.

Children of inter-caste couple can get the community certificate mentioning the caste of either of their parents, the State Government has said.

“The children born out of marriage between parents of two different castes shall be considered to belong to either the caste of the father or the caste of the mother based on the declaration of the parent/s,” said a Government Order of February 9 issued by the Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department.

A senior official pointed out to

The Hindu that the previous Government Order on the subject issued in 1975 had said that children of an inter-caste couple “shall be considered to belong to either the community [SC/MBC/BC or OC] of the father or mother according to the declaration of the parents regarding the way of life in which the children are brought up”.

The 1975 G.O. did not mention about specific caste within the larger community classification.

“Now, we are clarifying that the same applies for caste as well,” he said.

The latest decision follows requests received by the government to issue community certificates to children born of inter-caste marriages “based on the caste of either the father or the mother”.

Community certificates

The government has instructed the authorities in the Revenue Department to issue appropriate “Community Certificates” to such children according to their eligibility, by virtue of belonging to such a caste, “based on the declaration of the parent/s”.

The Commissioner of Revenue Administration shall issue suitable instructions to the Community Certificate issuing authorities to follow this.

The declaration in respect of one child will apply to all children in the family.