The Justice JB Koshy Commission on Christian Minorities in the state has recommended overhauling the reservation norms to ensure adequate representation of economically and socially backward Christian sections, especially Scheduled Caste Converts to Christianity (SCCC), in employment and education.
Cabinet accepted the commission’s report in principle on 24 February and agreed to publish it. The 357-page report published on Saturday highlights the need to guarantee Christians minority benefits proportionate to their share of the population.
Large sections of the report deal with the plight of backward Christian sections including the Dalit Christians (SCCC). It is only fair that the latter get the same benefits of reservation as the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, the commission said. “As for the SCCC Christians, their situation is much more dismal than the pre-conversion SCs,” the panel noted. It suggests that reservation quotas for SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs), if no candidate is available from these communities, should be made available to SCCC members rather than merging them with general merit.
The panel noted that there remains a huge gap between job reservation and education reservation for Christian sections. Reservation in educational institutions should be increased to 6% for Latin American/Anglo Indian, Nadar Christians and SCCCs in the ratio of 3:2:1 as Backward Christians are majority from these communities. Currently job reservation is 8% and education reservation is 4%. SCCC members should also be given the same protection as the SC and ST communities under the Scheduled Castes Act and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Sunday school teachers
Further, the commission recommended that legislation be framed under the Kerala Madrassa Teachers’ Welfare Fund Act, 2019 for the establishment of a welfare fund board for Sunday schools and religious teachers. The annual stipend given to Yateemkhana residents for vocational courses should be extended to orphanages run by Christians and other minority communities. New courses and centers of higher education should be started in colleges run by minorities, especially in coastal and hilly areas, it said.
The panel urged the police to be vigilant against “centres” that engage in the forcible conversion of girls. Such incidents should be prevented and strict legal action should be initiated against the perpetrators, the commission said. She also called on the government to ease barriers to the establishment of cemeteries.
Financial corporations
Further, the commission urged the government to set up the Kerala State Christian Minorities Development Finance Corporation. It also wanted the government to set up an agency to look into the socio-economic conditions of the Anglo-Indian community in the state. The commission made recommendations regarding the protection of rites and canon law, church property and customs, including those related to marriage law.
The report also deals with the plight of traditional fishing communities. According to the commission, they should be designated as “Most Backward Community”, “Utterly Backward Community” or “Backward Micro Community” and extended special benefits.
The commission also called for pro-agricultural policies in the event of human-wildlife conflicts. Members of the commission were Christy Fernandez (former secretary to the president) and former state police chief Jacob Punnoose.
Published – 28 Feb 2026 20:42 IST
