Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): The state government's initiative to provide free caste certificates to students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) has hit a roadblock.
Despite submitting documents over a year and a half ago, 10,000 students in Sardarpur tehsil still await their certificates. The delay has caused problems for students trying to fill out profile registration forms, which require caste certificate authentication.
The state government launched a special campaign in January-February 2023 to issue caste certificates to students from Classes 1 to 8. Teachers collected documents from students, including Aadhaar cards, Samagra IDs and caste certificates of parents or siblings and submitted them to the public service centre. Despite these efforts, the caste certificates have not been issued, leaving students and parents frustrated.
However, SDM Megha Pawar claims that 70 per cent of the certificates have been processed and distributed and† 20 to 30 per cent are pending due to documentation issues. In contrast, many school principals report that they have yet to receive any certificates.
This discrepancy leaves students and parents in a challenging situation, repeatedly visiting the public service centre without success. Reports also indicate that some students were asked to pay for their caste certificates, despite the government mandate for free issuance.
This has raised concerns about possible corruption and inefficiency within the system. Dhyan Singh Muvel, headmaster of Government Secondary School Phulgawdi, stated, "Out of about 150 SC, ST and OBC students, caste certificates for only 3 to 4 students have been received from the public service centre, which has been distributed. The majority of our students are still waiting for their certificates."
