In a pioneering move to ensure government benefits for its general category members, the Syro-Malabar Church has instructed its members to enter the community name as “Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic” on school and college registration forms to secure Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservations and associated benefits.

Previously, the church members used different tags such as “RC,” “RCSC,” “RCS,” and “SC”, Syrian Catholic, Roman Catholic, etc., in the caste column. According to church authorities, while “Syro-Malabar” is the common name used for internal church purposes, only the “Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic” tag should be used in government-related documents moving forward. Even though there are no issues in getting an EWS certificate with existing names, the church calls for the use of this unified community name as per the government order dated 08.07.2023.

While sections within the Syro-Malabar Church, like Knanaya Catholics, Dalit Catholics, and Nadar Catholics, have clearly defined religious names in government records, the “Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic” tag is aimed at general category members who are eligible for government benefits.

Fr. Sabin Thoomullil, Director of the Aider Foundation—a help desk under the Thamarassery diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church—stated that nearly 60% to 70% of Syro-Malabar Church members are economically backward and eligible for EWS benefits.

“However, due to vague general category tags, many have been missing out on these benefits. The government previously conducted a survey to determine the number of forward-caste individuals eligible for forward-caste benefits. In light of this, we needed to fix a common name for our general category members, and ‘Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic’ was selected,” Fr. Thoomullil said.

Streamlining eligibility

The priest added that adopting a unified caste name would streamline eligibility for EWS and other benefits. “The church has already directed its members to ensure they write only the ‘Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic’ tag in all school and college documents from now onward. The church has already begun awareness campaigns for this purpose,” he said.

However, a technical issue remains regarding the transition, which the church is working with the government to resolve.

“When a child uses the ‘Syro-Malabar Syrian Catholic’ tag today, their parents’ older documents often still feature ‘RC,’ ‘RCSC,’ or other tags. We are requesting that the government issue an order confirming that all such past tag names are eligible to secure benefits for their children. We hope the government will issue the order soon,” the priest added.

Church authorities clarified that Syro-Malabar Church members who are already receiving OBC or OEC reservations should continue to use their existing caste names in government records.

According to sources, presently, general category members of the Syro-Malabar Church do not receive any reservation or other benefits, puportedly resulting in the large-scale migration of Syro-Malabar youth to foreign countries. The church expects that with the support of the new caste tag, these members will get government benefits, which will help to prevent this large-scale migration.