VIJAYAWADA: AP State Minorities Commission (APSMC) has advised revenue officials not to outright deny BC-E caste certificates to people of Muslim minorities bearing surnames Mohammad and Abdul.
APSMC chairman Dr K. Iqbal Ahmed Khan said the commission has asked district collectors in the state to issue necessary instructions to all MROs and RDOs that no caste claim be rejected straightaway based on surname/prefix or suffix of a name, without taking up the mandatory field inquiry as prescribed in G.O. Ms. No. 23.
He underlined that the director of BC welfare department has clarified that there is no bar in the said G.O. on issue of BC-E caste certificates to Muslims for possessing surnames Mohammad and Abdul. People having these surnames too can be issued BC-E certificates after an inquiry into details of their status.
APSMC chairman regretted that rejection of BC-E status merely for having these surnames is depriving certain socially and educationally backward Muslims from getting reservations and improving their status financially.
Dr Iqbal Ahmed Khan asked revenue officials not to cause inconvenience and hardship to eligible people among Muslims.
