Community Certificate (Caste Certificate) in Tamil Nadu

What is a community certificate in Tamil Nadu?

A community certificate in Tamil Nadu is the Revenue Department's proof that a named person belongs to a particular community as classified in the state, Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyar (SC(A)), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Most Backward Class or Denotified Community (MBC/DNC), Backward Class (BC) or Backward Class Muslim (BC(M)). Tamil Nadu calls it a community certificate rather than a caste certificate, and issues it through the Tahsildar of the taluk.

The application runs on the TN e-Sevai portal at tnesevai.tn.gov.in, operated by the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA), where the service carries the code REV-101 Community Certificate in the Revenue Department's list.

The certificate is the foundation of Tamil Nadu's reservation system, which is among the widest in India. It is demanded for reserved seats in engineering and medical counselling, arts and science college admission, scholarships and fee waivers from the Adi Dravidar Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare Departments, reserved posts under the TNPSC and the Uniformed Services Recruitment Board, hostel admission and free education schemes.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply if you reside in Tamil Nadu and your paternal family belongs to a community listed in Tamil Nadu's SC, SC(A), ST, MBC/DNC, BC or BC(M) schedules. Community is traced through the father in the normal case, so the Tahsildar's enquiry rests on the father's or grandfather's community record, or on an old school register entry carrying the community.

You cannot apply in Tamil Nadu if your family's community record belongs to another state. A family recorded as Scheduled Caste in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or Kerala and now living in Chennai or Coimbatore is not eligible for a Tamil Nadu community certificate against that record, the certificate must come from the state the family is recorded in. You are also not eligible if the community you claim does not appear in any Tamil Nadu schedule, or if no record connects your family to it.

Note the split between two related services. REV-101 Community Certificate is the state document. REV-115 OBC Certificate is a separate service used for central government recruitment and central educational institutions. A BC or MBC candidate in Tamil Nadu usually needs both over a career, and applying for one when a form asked for the other is a common and avoidable delay.

What documents are required?

TNeGA notes that its certificate services each require specific documents such as photographs, address proofs and self-declarations. For REV-101 prepare:

• CAN number: created once on e-Sevai and valid for a lifetime.
• Passport-size photograph.
• Aadhaar card for identity.
• Address proof for the Tamil Nadu residence, ration card, voter ID or a utility bill for the address in the taluk.
• Community certificate of the father or a paternal relative, or an old school record showing the community.
• Birth certificate or school transfer certificate of the applicant.
• Self-declaration in the form the portal provides.
• Marriage certificate, for a married woman applying against her father's record.

How to apply for a Tamil Nadu community certificate online

1. Create or recover your CAN. Log in at tnesevai.tn.gov.in and go to Services → Register CAN, then fill in the applicant's details. If you already have a CAN but cannot remember it, TNeGA lets you search for it with your mobile number, date of birth, name or email, the CAN is valid for life and should never be created twice for the same person.
2. Open the Revenue Department service list and select REV-101 Community Certificate. The Revenue list on e-Sevai also carries REV-115 OBC Certificate, REV-116 Residence Certificate and REV-103 Income Certificate, so check the code before you proceed.
3. File the application against your CAN. Enter the community claimed, the father's details, the taluk and district, and the purpose for which the certificate is needed.
4. Upload the documents — photograph, Aadhaar, address proof, the paternal community record, the birth or transfer certificate and the self-declaration.
5. Pay the charges shown on the payment screen and submit the application.
6. Note the application number on the acknowledgement. It is what the Check Status page needs.

How to apply through an e-Sevai centre or the taluk office

1. Visit an e-Sevai centre or CSC with originals and photocopies of the documents, and with your CAN if you already have one.
2. Ask the operator to register the CAN if needed and then file REV-101 against it. The operator files into the same e-Sevai system, so the file is tracked identically.
3. Pay the government charge plus the notified operator charge, and collect the printed acknowledgement with the application number.
4. Alternatively submit the application at the taluk office of the Tahsildar, which is the authority that signs the certificate.

How do you check the application status?

TNeGA gives two routes. Log in to your e-Sevai account and use the Check Status section with your application number; or open the status page directly at tnedistrict.tn.gov.in/tneda/out_status.xhtml. If the application was sent back for correction, log in, select the service name and open the Returned application tab. A returned application is not a rejection, and it is fixed by re-uploading the missing document rather than by starting a fresh file.

For portal problems, TNeGA publishes the helpdesk email tnesevaihelpdesk@tn.gov.in and a toll-free number 1100. For a delay after the file has reached verification, approach the taluk office directly, since the village administrative officer's enquiry and the Tahsildar's approval both happen there.

Why are community certificate applications rejected in Tamil Nadu?

• No paternal community record is attached, so nothing links the applicant to the community claimed.
• The community claimed is notified for another state rather than for Tamil Nadu.
• The applicant filed REV-101 when the institution actually asked for REV-115 OBC Certificate, or the reverse.
• Names or community spellings differ between Aadhaar, the school transfer certificate and the relative's community certificate.
• A duplicate CAN was created, splitting the applicant's record across two numbers.
• The village administrative officer could not verify the residence at the address given.
• The application was returned for a missing document and never resubmitted from the Returned application tab.

What does it cost, and what about agents?

A Tamil Nadu community certificate is issued at the government charge that the e-Sevai payment screen displays, plus the notified operator charge if a centre files it for you. No village administrative officer, taluk clerk or agent is entitled to anything beyond that, and no middleman can bypass the enquiry the Tahsildar relies on. Middlemen who quote a fixed fee for a "fast" certificate are selling a form that takes minutes to file yourself. Keep the online payment receipt, and report a demand for extra money to tnesevaihelpdesk@tn.gov.in or the Tahsildar's grievance counter.

Validity and later use

A community certificate records descent, so the community entry does not lapse with time. What does need refreshing is the surrounding paperwork: BC, MBC and BC(M) candidates are regularly asked for a current income certificate (REV-103) or a recent OBC certificate (REV-115) alongside the community certificate, and both of those depend on facts that change. Keep your CAN safe, TNeGA designed it to be reused for life, and a person who remembers their CAN can file every later Tamil Nadu revenue certificate without re-entering the same personal details.