Naresh Karthik from Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu secured admission for his daughter after obtaining a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate for his daughter. Naresh was compelled to take this step after several private schools put the admission on hold for keeping the religion and caste columns blank.
Naresh runs a design firm business in Coimbatore. He was taken aback when every school he approached for admission put the application on hold. So, he applied for and received a certificate issued by the Coimbatore North Tashildar declaring that “baby GN Vilma does not belong to any caste or religion.” “There is a state government order (GO) passed in 1973 and later in 2000 that allows the caste and religion columns to be left blank, but the school authorities have no knowledge of this,” said the 33 year old.
Coimbatore designer secures 'no caste, no religion' certificate for 3-yr-old daughter
Naresh Karthik resorted to this measure after multiple private schools refused to process his child's application after he left the caste and religion columns blankhttps://t.co/qJzodQ6xZR
— JayKay (@JayKay074) May 30, 2022
In two separate orders in 1973 and 2000, the state education department allowed the columns of religion and caste in the admission form to be left blank, if parents don’t want to mention their child’s caste or religion. Naresh said that he didn’t want to confine his daughter to any religion or caste. “For my daughter, God means love and love means equality.” He added that educational institutions must promote equality and inclusiveness.
He also runs a trust that focuses on education for the children of prisoners, juvenile offenders released after completing their sentence, and child survivors of physical and sexual abuse. “Because of this work, I have direct access to the district collector. I was able to send him a message and ask for his help,” said Naresh.
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"NARESH KARTHIK" https://t.co/oIlSfYDUxu— Thuklak (@Thuklakboy) May 30, 2022
However, he added that such a facility is not available for everyone. Even if a parent gets access to the collector, the latter may not respond in such cases. As many parents are unaware of such provisions, Naresh said that “I hope many parents would come forward to get the same for their children and create a change in the society.” This story is especially significant in times of polarization and deep communal divide.
References: The News minute, Times of India
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