A child from Tamil Nadu has been granted a ‘no religion, no caste’ certificate.

Vilma, a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter of a Tamil Nadu couple, has a ‘no religion, no caste’ certificate. Naresh Karthik and his wife Gayathri approached several schools to enroll their daughter in kindergarten while leaving the religion and caste columns blank.

Naresh, the founder of Seed reaps Educational and Charitable Trust, told reporters that he and his wife Gayathri do not want their child to be restricted by religion or caste. “For our daughter, God is associated with love, and love is synonymous with equality,” he explained. Students should be taught love and equality in educational institutions.”

When he approached several schools to admit his daughter, he discovered that the application form did not include a ‘no religion, no caste’ column.

“The schools we approached said that the religion and caste columns are required and that they cannot accept the application without these columns filled,” Naresh explained.

However, the young couple was unaware of a 1973 government order stating that religion and caste are not required for admission of their children to schools.