An Indian church leader has hailed the one-year extension gi-ven to the Justice K G Balakri-shnan commission to study whether socially poor Christians and Muslims are eligible for the nation’s affirmative action policy. “We welcome the extension gi-ven to the panel as it was unable to complete its work within the stipulated time,” said Father Antony Thumma, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Ecu-menism. Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s federal government appointed the commission in 2022 to study and recomm-end whether to extend the bene-fits of the affirmative action policy to Christians and Muslims who come from Dalit communi-ties that were once considered untouchable. The benefits of the policy include seats in educational institutions, government jobs, and electoral politics. However, these concessions are currently limited to Dalits who belong to Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddh-ism. Balakrishnan, a former chief justice of India who headed the three-member panel, was given two years to submit the report. “The panel started its work late as it did not get an office, staff, and other amenities,” said Thu-mma. The priest has been actively involved in the struggles of Dalit Christians to gain benefits from the affirmative action policy. Thumma and a 15-member ecu-menical delegation met the com-mission on Oct. 12 in the national capital, New Delhi, to advocate for the cause of Dalit Christians, who make up more than 50% of India’s 25 million Christians.