KOCHI: Catholic Church will be taking a tough stand against the government, citing problems in the education sector as well as falling prices of agricultural crops and wildlife attacks. The expert committee's recommendation that admissions under the plus one community quota in aided schools should be made on the basis of merit through the government's single window system is what provoked the Catholic Church.

KCBC Education Commission Chairman Bishop Joshua Ignathios said that this is an encroachment on minority rights. The KCBC also demanded to reject the proposals to reduce the number of optional subjects to three, do away with school weightage, and stop unaided batches in aided schools.

The churches allege that the government is taking away the rights given to the minorities by the constitution. There is also a complaint that the government discriminates against Christian sects and the issues they raise. The Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC) will not deny the statements made by the bishops, even if they are controversial.

The Catholic Church had reacted sharply to the killing of three people in wild buffalo attack the other day. In the event of crop destruction and death due to wildlife attacks, the move is to take a no-compromise stance. Following Thalassery Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, KCBC President Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholica Bawa had also criticized the government severely.