Andhra Pradesh to take up the Dalit Christian issue with the centre

(June 8, 2009) Leaders of Christian Churches of southern India’s Andhra Pradesh state last week met the state chief minister to lobby with the central government to grant schedule caste (SC) status to Dalit Christians. While meeting Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Saturday in the state capital, Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches (APFC), which is a state-level body of Bishops and Church Heads of all Christian communities in Andhra Pradesh, felicitated him on assuming the second term and presented a memorandum for the cause of Dalit Christians. Reddy accepted to take up issue of SC status to the Dalit Christians with Central Government especially with the Union Ministers for Law and Justice and for Social Justice and Empowerment. He agreed to lead a state delegation of Bishops and Church leaders to the Centre to persuade the Centre. Catholic Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad, the Executive Vice- President of APFC presented the memorandum the the chief minister on behalf of the about 40 delegates. The memorandum contained several other issues related to Christian churches in Andhra Pradesh.