KHADC Chief Executive Member Titosstarwell Chyne today said that children who are not able to speak the Khasi language will not be given Scheduled Tribe certificates.
This was in reply to the issue of children of mixed Khasi and non-Khasi parentage facing difficulties in obtaining ST certificates, raised by Mylliem MDC Ronnie Lyngdoh.
Children of a Khasi woman and non-Khasi man are often deprived of the ST certificates by the Deputy Commissioner’s office, which creates problems for the children in school, Lyngdoh said.
The CEM said mixed parentage is a controversial issue and that a procedure exists for such children to get ST certificates. He said that as per the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act, the family will first have to obtain a ‘Khasi Tribe Certificate’ from the KHADC.
“The DC’s office does not directly issue the ST certificate in such cases but the family will first have to get the KTC from the district council,” Chyne stated. “The district council also does not issue the KTC directly but conducts a kind of hearing for such cases and the children are interviewed by the registered authority appointed by the council. If the children are not able to speak the Khasi language, they will not be given the KTC.”
