"Reservation not guaranteed if one parent is from scheduled caste"

A child born to one parent from the scheduled castes and the other from non-scheduled castes is not automatically entitled to reservation or a scheduled caste status, Welfare Minister B S Ramoowalia. All depended on the way the child was brought up, he said.

"Even if the mother of the child is a member of the scheduled caste community, it is possible that the child is accepted by the community of his father and brought up in the surroundings of the father's relations. In that case, such a child cannot be treated as a member of the scheduled caste community and cannot get any benefit as such,’’ Ramoowalia said.

The minister was replying to a question by K R Malkani whether offsprings of a scheduled caste wife and non-scheduled caste husband would be included in the scheduled caste.

"The crucial test to determine the status of (such) an offspring… is whether (such) a child has been accepted by the scheduled caste… as a member of their community and has been brought up in that… community or not…," he said. In effect, a child of such a marriage would only be included in the scheduled caste if it was brought up in the scheduled caste community.

Similarly, if the mother did not belong to a scheduled caste but the father did, the father may keep away from his scheduled caste community, therefore not exposing the child to that environment. In such cases too, the child cannot be said to be a member of the scheduled caste, he said.

However, Ramoowalia clarified that though this was the general position, each case would have to be examined in the light of prevailing circumstances.