Caste Awards, The winning of

” Dear Parent, please furnish the caste certificate of your child”, said the email from the CBSE school. CBSE is an acronym that reminds one of the fact that anything centrally administered is bound to fail – so typical of Indian political administration. It is the educational wing of the central government which keeps reminding us that Akbar and Humayun were benign rulers and that the Cholas and Pandyas were local chieftains.

I was so piqued by the mail. Having long been pontificated to that the caste system had long since been abolished by the likes of Ambedkar and Gandhiji , I sent a return mail to the school asking ,”Please explain what is a caste certificate. Who awards this certificate? Where does one get this?”

And prompt was the reply,” Dear Parent, Thank you for your reply. Caste Certificate is awarded by the Government”.

“Awarded”, I asked, ” From the file folder that I have, I seem to possess many certificates but don’t seem to have won this award. Who generally presents this award?”, I asked.

The reply was delayed. But it came like a bolt from the blue one fine evening, thus:

“Dear Parent, The Caste Certificate is awarded by the Government in case you belong to SC/ST/MBC/OBC categories”.

So, this is a classification certification, I wanted to understand. So I wrote back, ” The country in which I have been allowed to work in, had asked my all my educational certificates to be issued a visa. The meritocratic company that I work for had also asked for many certificates but neither of them have  asked me this certificate. So, I begin to wonder what is so special about this certificate that the CBSE is particular about?”

And most of all, I had asked what was needed to be done to get that “award” as it seemed to be a very important document – probably more important than even the passport.

After a couple of days I got the reply ,” Dear Parent, This Caste Certificate might not be applicable to your wards. Hence you need not furnish this”.

I was particularly concerned.

Why does the CBSE insist on an award that becomes insignificant once you ask questions ?

How does one acquire this award?

What are the educational qualifications and achievements needed to win this award ?

Please help me find this answer. Seems this is the most important document for the CBSE.