Born sans identity! Orphaned kids stuck in Karnataka’s caste dilemma | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Caste, for most citizens, is something they inherit at birth — recorded, recognised, and carried through life in official documents. However, this question becomes complex when a child has no known parents, and no family history, particularly in the case of those raised in govt-run centres. With no records to rely on, no lineage to trace, and not even a surname to claim, these children are often pushed into a grey zone of identity. Yet the system continues to demand an answer: Which caste do they belong to?This unanswered question follows them into classrooms, scholarship applications, hostel admissions, and eventually job opportunities. While several welfare schemes of the state govt hinge on caste certification, orphaned children are left waiting — caught between paperwork and policy, their future stalled by a label they never inherited. Confronted with this policy dilemma over determining caste status for orphaned children, the state’s women and child development department, which is responsible for their care, is now awaiting a decision on extending benefits and a 1% reservation at all levels through the backward classes department under Category-1.Sources in the department said there are about 300 orphaned children across three age groups — from newborns to 15-year-olds — housed in various children’s homes run under the Directorate of Child Protection. The department manages 76 children’s homes, including 38 for boys, 36 for girls, and one Shishu Mandira catering to orphaned children below 6 years of age. “There are around 25 children at the Shishu Mandira (below 5 years), followed by 76 in the 5-10 age group and about 199 aged 10-15 years,” a senior official explained.Women and child development minister Laxmi R Hebbalkar said, “We do not have any proof of caste for these children who are enrolled in our children’s homes.”The department first wrote to the chief secretary in Oct 2024, flagging the issue of caste determination for orphaned children. “The matter was also discussed at the state-level child welfare and protection committee, where it was decided to approach the social welfare department seeking all benefits and facilities extended to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes. However, the social welfare department refused to extend those benefits to these children,” the minister stated in her reply to BJP MLC N Ravikumar during the ongoing winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi.The department subsequently approached the backward classes department in an attempt to secure a workable solution for these orphaned and destitute children living in govt institutions. “In Sept 2025, we wrote to the backward classes department seeking caste certificates for these children and requesting a 1% reservation at all levels under Category-1 by including all of them in that category. The department has referred our proposal to the backward classes commission for review, and we are now awaiting its response,” Hebbalkar said.—–QuoteIn Sept 2025, we wrote to the backward classes department seeking caste certificates for these (orphened) children and requesting a 1% reservation at all levels under Category-1… The department has referred our proposal to the backward classes commission for review, and we are now awaiting its response-Laxmi R Hebbalkar, women & child development minister