Ivan D’Souza urges 2% reservation for Christian community

Legislative Council member Ivan D’Souza has called for a distinct sub-category for the Christian community within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and advocated for a 2% reservation for the group. He expressed during a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday that the Christian community struggles to gain sufficient advantages in government jobs and education through the current reservation system.

Currently, Christians are classified under the ‘3B’ category and find it challenging to compete with other mainstream communities. Consequently, D’Souza urged the government to establish a separate ‘2B’ reservation for Christians, akin to the reservation accorded to the Muslim minority community. In response, Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf Minister U.T.

Khader stated that the decision to create a separate sub-category would be made by the Backward Classes Commission, and advised the community to submit their demand to the commission. D’Souza also appealed to the government to provide financial assistance for the Christian community's pilgrimage to Jerusalem.