By IANS,
Kochi (Kerala) : Charles Dias of Kochi has been named as one of the two Anglo Indian nominees to the Lok Sabha — taking Kerala’s strength in the lower house of the Indian parliament to 21.
With this, the total number of MPs from the state, including nine in the Rajya Sabha, has touched 30.
Dias, 59, is a retired senior superintendent of the Kerala State Electricity Board and has been an active member of the community here.
“I never expected this nomination. I am happy that I have been nominated and I will do my best to work for the betterment of my community,” said Dias.
The Anglo-Indian community is the only Indian community that has its own representatives nominated to the Lok Sabha.
The community is represented by two members. This is done because the community has no native state of its own.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala also have a nominated Anglo Indian member each in their respective state legislatures.
Ludy Luiz, former Anglo Indian nominated member in the Kerala assembly (2001-06), told IANS that this is the first time that a person from the community in Kerala has got nominated to the Lok Sabha.
“Today Kerala has the largest population of our community in the country – it has crossed 1.30 lakh. We have a lot of issues with regards to job reservation and college admissions. In Kerala our community falls under the Other Backward Communities but in the rest of the country we are not in that list,” said Luiz.
Kevin D. Rozario, state general secretary of the Union of Anglo Indian Associations, thanked the All India Congress Committee for nominating Dias.
“Of the nearly 200,000 of our community members in the country, more than half are in this state. But this is the first time that we have got a nomination. We are delighted because we have one of our people who will raise issues concerning us,” said Rozario.