Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government’s statement on having implemented the recommendations made by Justice J.B. Koshy Commission for upliftment of the Christian community in a 2023 report has invited sharp criticism from the state’s Catholic Church over “lack of clarity”.
The Church’s remarks come two days after the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government said that 220 recommendations of the report have been fully implemented by 17 departments, as of Tuesday. According to the government’s statement, it looked at a total of 284 recommendations and 45 sub-recommendations submitted by the panel, and the remaining 64 remain under consideration. However, it has not yet released the full report or the list of the ones that have been implemented and those that are pending.
Father Antony Vadakkekara, the Public Relations Officer of the state’s Syro Malabar Church told ThePrint that the community has no information on the implemented measures for the community.
“The government appointed the commission before the last election, and are saying that they implemented recommendations before another election. But the community is unaware. It appears as if the government is scared of someone. There should be clarity,” Antony said, adding that the government should release the white paper of the measures and the budget.
Antony said that the government is trying to tap Christian votes in the upcoming assembly polls. “The government that has failed us and the report will have to pay a huge price in upcoming polls,” he said.
The issue assumes significance in context of the setback to the ruling Left Democratic Front in the recently concluded local body polls, where Christian and Muslim voters largely supported the rival United Democratic Front. Christian and Muslim communities make up 18.4 percent and 26.6 percent of Kerala’s population, respectively.
Set up on 5 November, 2020 to address the grievances of the state’s Christian population and improve their access to welfare schemes, the Justice J.B. Koshy Commission had submitted its report in May 2023 with 328 recommendations, after analysing 4.87 lakh complaints and submissions made by various Christian churches and organisations. However, the delay in the report’s release has become a major flashpoint between the state government and church bodies.
An official of the Directorate of Minority Welfare told ThePrint that all the recommendations had been consolidated and sent to different departments for implementation in 2023. Requesting anonymity, the official added that the pending suggestions include study rooms for underprivileged students, education loans for students, and the setting up of a fund scheme for Sunday school teachers, on the lines of Kerala Madrasa Teachers Welfare Fund.
All these recommendations are in different stages of consideration and that action has already begun, the official said, without revealing further details about the implementation report.
“They (the government) are not releasing it as it might lead to issues. They should answer,” the official said.
ThePrint reached out to LDF convener T.P. Ramakrishnan via calls, which went unanswered.
‘Who is the govt afraid of?’
Submitted in 2023, the delay in the Koshy report’s release has drawn the ire of various church groups. In April 2025, over 10,000 members of the community, including church functionaries, held a protest in Kozhikode district, demanding the release of the report. The state’s Catholic Congress had also held a protest across all 14 districts of Kerala.
Amid the current controversy, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday clarified that there is no need for concern. He said a meeting is scheduled for 6 February, where concerned stakeholders and groups can voice their concerns.
Addressing a press conference, Vijayan said that various departments are preparing to submit seven recommendations for cabinet approval. “The recommendations that can be implemented based on the existing laws have been completed. The remaining ones can be implemented only after amending existing central or state regulations, or through inter-departmental coordination. Instructions have been given to proceed,” he said, adding that the government has done whatever it could so far to implement the measures.
Antony said the church bodies haven’t yet arrived at a decision about attending the meeting.
Meanwhile, an editorial published Friday in Malayalam newspaper Deepika, considered to be the mouthpiece of the Syro Malabar Church, read, “Apparently, more recommendations of the J.B. Koshy Commission report have been implemented so effortlessly that not even a single Christian is aware of them.”
The report should be made public so that the community can identify the benefits it has received, it added.
The editorial further said that the state government was reluctant to act on the report for nearly two years after it was submitted. Referring to the chief minister’s “unexpected reply” following protests, it asked if the government is reluctant to reveal the details of the recommendations because the ‘implementation’ claim is “simply false”.
“There are very few instances in the country where a commission report has kept the concerned community in the dark in this manner. What is really the problem? Who is the government afraid of? Would there be any conflict in society if the welfare measures given and to be given to the Christian minority were openly discussed?” it read.
It also claimed that the state government blocked the regularisation of teachers in Christian-run institutions in the name of reservation for the differently abled—when Education Minister V. Sivankutty had hit out at a section of aided schools for under-reporting vacancies earmarked for PwDs—and that he had intervened in the school uniform row last year, a controversy that had eventually reached the court. In October last year, a girl student had been barred from a church-run school for the alleged violation of their uniform policy. The minister had supported the student, calling the school’s action unconstitutional.
“A commission headed by a judge was not appointed to carry out actions that are unconstitutional or harmful to society at large. Christians do not want any backdoor privileges,” it further said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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