Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, June 6

In a decision aimed at saving people belonging to the Schedule Castes from harassment in government offices, the Punjab Government has decided to simplify the procedure of granting Schedule Caste certificates and hand over these to students in government schools.

The acquisition of Scheduled Caste certificates has been a major headache for Scheduled Caste and Backward Class children and their parents since it involves many hassles and several rounds of government offices.

In a communiqué circulated among all Deputy Commissioners by the State Welfare Department (Reservation cell), these certificates will be prepared and distributed among students by the school authorities after verification by revenue officials.

According to the new procedure, the SDMs will circulate performs among high and higher secondary school authorities. The Principals of these schools will get these signed by the parents of students after initial verification and return the signed performas to the SDMs. The SDMs will ensure the veracity of the information mentioned in the performas and give caste certificates to the Principals for distribution among students.

The Punjab Government’s decision has come after the success of a pilot project implemented in Jalandhar district. According to the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner, Mr K. Shiva Prasad, about 10,000 certificates have already been distributed among students of different government schools of the district under the project, which was his brainchild and was adopted by the state government thereafter.

The decision is likely to benefit a large number of children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and their parents, as such a certificate is required at every step, particularly for availing reservation facility for admission to professional course and getting government jobs later on.