Kerala govt. urges Centre to consider amendments to caste certificate rules for linguistic minorities

The Kerala government has submitted a detailed proposal to the Union government on the need to consider amendments to the existing rules regarding the issuance of caste certificates to persons who migrated to Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the Assembly on Tuesday

The Chief Minister said this in reply to a calling attention motion moved by A. Raja, on the need to implement the recommendations of the Naduvattom Gopalakrishnan committee report, regarding the resolution of issues faced by linguistic minorities in the State for securing a caste certificate.

As per the existing rules, caste certificates are issued only to Tamil-speaking linguistic minority groups who migrated from other States and settled permanently in Kerala before 1950.

The report had recommended that this time limit be revised to include those who settled before January 1, 1970.

However, as authentic records on migration or permanent residency of persons within the administrative areas of Travancore, Kochi, and Madras Presidency before 1950 are not available, detailed perusal of documents would be required to make amendments to the existing rules regarding the issuance of caste certificates for linguistic minorities, Mr. Vijayan pointed out

Union List

However, as matters relating to migration fall under the Union List, only the Union government has the authority to amend these criteria.

The issuance of caste certificates to persons who migrated to Kerala is done strictly as per the guidelines prescribed by the Centre.

A meeting of the Ministers concerned was held on April 16 this year to consider amendments to the existing rules and recommend necessary modifications in the existing rules regarding the issuance of caste certificates to linguistic minorities. Based on the discussions, a detailed proposal has been submitted to the Union government, Mr. Vijayan said.

A meeting chaired by the Chief Minister on August 26, 2025, decided to mount pressure on the Centre regarding this matter and it is being followed up, he added.