The sub-castes among forward caste Hindus and Christians may soon be treated as castes, taking the number of forward castes in the State to 168. These include 149 castes from the Hindu community and 19 from Christians.
Earlier, there were 84 castes and 90 sub-castes in the forward communities. The Kerala State Commission for Economically Backward Classes among Forward Communities had drawn up the draft caste list the other day. These communities together account for 27.73% of the State population.
The panel had earlier sought response from the public to finalise the list of forward caste communities that were out of caste-based reservation.
The panel decided to consider the sub-castes in the Hindu and Christian communities as full-fledged castes to solve confusion over classification.
At present, there are 70 sub-castes among the forward caste Hindu communities, including 24 in the Nair community. The Nair sub-castes include Menon, Pillai, Unnithan, and Shudra. There are 13 Brahmin sub-castes, including Namboothiri, Potti, and Bhattathiri, 14 in Ambalavasis, eight in Nedungadis, and six in Kshatriyas.