Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday handed over the first caste certificate issued on the mother's credentials to a child of a single mother.
This is the first time that the child of a single mother belonging to the scheduled caste community received a caste certificate based on his mother's caste certificate in Delhi.
According to the Delhi government, previously, SC/ST caste certificates were issued only based on the fathers' caste certificate or paternal side certificates. Due to this procedure, many single mothers could not get SC/ST caste certificates for their children.
Geeta Devi is one such single mother who had been struggling to get an SC caste certificate for her child for the past eight years. Her application was rejected multiple times stating that the father's caste certificate is not present.
Aam Admi Party (AAP) MLA Vishesh Ravi had been pursuing this matter with the Revenue Department, Social Welfare Department and Department for the Welfare of SC/ST of Delhi. He wrote a series of letters to the Revenue Department officials and had multiple meetings with officials.
He had also raised this issue in the Delhi Legislative Assembly highlighting the suffering of single SC/ST mothers in 2020. The circular to amend the procedure for the issuance of the SC/ST caste certificate based on the single mother's caste certificate was issued on July 20, 2020, with the prior approval of the Revenue Minister of GNCT Delhi.
