The National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC) has appealed to the Union government to grant Scheduled Castes (SC) status to Dalit Christians and Muslims.

The appeal was made during a two-day national managing committee and special general body meetings of the NCDC held in Odisha’s Gopalpur on September 28 and 29. The meetings were attended by 40 representatives of the organisation from all over India. NCDC national president V.J. George and general secretary E.D. Charles along with several other top activists attended the two national level meetings.

The leaders appealed to the Central government to file a positive reply to the civil writ petition now listed for final hearing in the Supreme Court. They want removal of paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 that denied SC status and rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims. “Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission had given positive recommendation regarding it but the government is yet to follow the recommendation,” said NCDC media coordinator Dhirendra Nath Sabhapati.