Kerala to urge Centre to revise caste certificate rules for Tamil-speaking migrants

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, 7 October, announced that the state government would intensify its efforts to persuade the Centre to revise existing rules governing the issuance of caste certificates to Tamil-speaking minorities who migrated to Kerala.

Vijayan made the statement in response to a call to attention raised by A. Raja, MLA from Devikulam, in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Raja expressed concern over the bureaucratic and legal difficulties faced by linguistic minority communities, particularly Tamils, in securing caste certificates in the state. He urged the government to take proactive steps, including implementing the recommendations of the Naduvattam Gopalakrishnan report.

According to current guidelines, only those Tamil linguistic minority groups who migrated from other states and permanently settled in Kerala before 1950 are eligible for caste certificates. Vijayan acknowledged the limitations of this rule. “Caste certificates are issued only to Tamil linguistic minority groups who migrated from other states and permanently settled in Kerala before 1950,” he said.

The chief minister added that the Naduvattam Gopalakrishnan report had recommended extending the eligibility cut-off date to 1 January 1970.

Such a change, if implemented, would benefit many Tamil-speaking families who settled in Kerala during the latter decades of the 20th century. However, Vijayan noted that implementing this recommendation is not straightforward.

“Since there are no authentic records available regarding migration and permanent settlement in Kerala prior to 1950 in the erstwhile Travancore, Cochin, and Madras Presidency regions, detailed verification is required before revising the current provisions,” he said.

Vijayan further explained that since migration and related issues fall under the Union List of the Constitution, the power to amend these criteria lies solely with the central government.

“The issuance of community certificates to migrants in Kerala is strictly based on guidelines prescribed by the Centre,” he said.

Highlighting the steps already taken, Vijayan said the matter had been discussed in a ministerial meeting held on 16 April this year, where it was decided that Kerala would propose amendments to the existing rules. A detailed proposal was subsequently forwarded to the Union government.

He also mentioned that another meeting, chaired by him on 26 August, 2025, reached a consensus among ministers to step up pressure on the Centre. “Follow-up actions in this regard are currently underway,” the chief minister said.

Raja reiterated that linguistic minorities deserve fair access to caste certificates and urged the government to take swift, decisive action.