Published Feb 24, 2026 | 10:08 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 24, 2026 | 10:08 PM
Kerala government. (Wikimedia)
Synopsis: The move comes at a time when political parties are actively reaching out to various community groups ahead of the crucial Assembly elections. By formally accepting the Justice JB Koshy Commission report and promising to publish it, the government appears to be signalling responsiveness to long-standing demands from sections of the Christian community.
With the Assembly elections just weeks away, the Kerala Cabinet on Tuesday, 24 February took a politically significant decision by accepting in principle the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) JB Koshy Commission on the educational, economic and social conditions of Christians in the state.
The Cabinet also decided to officially publish the long-awaited report, which has so far remained out of the public domain.
The Commission was appointed in 2020 by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to study the educational and economic backwardness and welfare needs of the Christian community and to submit actionable recommendations.
The panel submitted its report to the government in May 2023.
However, the report was never made public, triggering sustained demands from Church bodies and opposition parties for transparency.
The issue resurfaced in January 2026 when the Chief Minister announced that the government had already acted on more than 220 recommendations of the Commission across 17 departments.
The claim sparked controversy, as neither the report nor any item-wise action taken statement had been placed in the public domain.
Christian Church organisations and opposition leaders questioned how implementation could be verified without access to the report itself.
Against this backdrop, the Cabinet’s decision to both accept the report in principle and publish it assumes added significance.
Apart from the recommendations already acted upon, the Cabinet on Tuesday took decisions on 32 additional recommendations from the Commission’s report.
One of the key decisions relates to the issuance of Latin Catholic community certificates. The Cabinet termed the existing requirement — that only those who joined as Latin Catholics before 1947 and their descendants are eligible for certificates — as “unscientific”.
It was decided that the year 1947 would no longer be treated as a criterion for issuing caste/community certificates. Instead, certificates issued by the concerned bishops can be considered as supporting documents, along with local verification conducted by the Village Officer, to assist revenue authorities in determining eligibility.
The move comes at a time when political parties are actively reaching out to various community groups ahead of the crucial Assembly elections. By formally accepting the Justice JB Koshy Commission report and promising to publish it, the government appears to be signalling responsiveness to long-standing demands from sections of the Christian community.
With the report now set to enter the public domain, attention is likely to shift to the specifics of its recommendations and the extent of their implementation — a debate that could shape political discourse in the final weeks before polling.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
