Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the state will step up pressure on the central government to revise the rules governing the issue of caste certificates to Tamil-speaking minorities who migrated to the state.
Responding to a call the attention raised by A Raja MLA in the Assembly, the chief minister explained that under the existing rules, "caste certificates are issued only to Tamil linguistic minority groups who migrated from other states and permanently settled in Kerala before 1950."
Vijayan noted that the Naduvattam Gopalakrishnan report had recommended extending this cut-off year to January 1, 1970. But he pointed out the challenge.
"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," the chief minister said.
He said the matters linked to migration fall under the Union List, meaning only the Centre can amend the criteria.
"The issuance of community certificates to migrants in Kerala is strictly based on guidelines prescribed by the Centre," the chief minister said.
Vijayan said a meeting of state ministers on April 16 this year discussed the matter and decided to propose amendments to the existing rules. A detailed proposal was later submitted to the Union government.
At another meeting chaired by the chief minister on August 26, 2025, ministers agreed that Kerala should exert more pressure on the Centre to act. "Follow-up actions in this regard are currently underway," the chief minister added.
Raja, who represents the Devikulam constituency, raised concerns over the difficulties faced by linguistic minorities in obtaining caste certificates in Kerala and drew the government's attention to the need for implementing the Naduvattom Gopalakrishnan Report.
