Legislative Council member Ivan D’Souza demanded the creation of a separate sub-category for the Christian community within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and sought 2% reservation for the community.

Speaking in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, he said the Christian community was unable to obtain adequate benefits in government employment and education through the existing reservation system. At present, Christians fall under the ‘3B’ category and are unable to compete with other mainstream communities.

He therefore urged the government to provide Christians with a separate ‘2B’ reservation, similar to that available to the Muslim minority community.

Responding to this, Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf Minister U.T. Khader said that the creation of a separate sub-category was a matter to be decided by the Backward Classes Commission. He therefore advised them to submit their demand to the commission.

Mr. D’Souza also appealed to the government to provide funding for the Christian community’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem.