Four nominated for Karnataka Backward Classes panel
'Four new members have been appointed to the commission — former IGP K Arkesh from Channapatna, advocate Shivanna Gowda from Mysuru, Mangaluru-based assistant professor B Sumana, and CM Kundagol, a retired principal from Dharwad. With these additions, the panel is now fully operational under the leadership of Madhusudhan R Naik, a former advocate-general who was appointed as the chairman in January,' said a senior official familiar with the development. It was communicated to the commission on Sunday.
'The commission is expected to hold discussions soon and advise the government on how to proceed with the proposed enumeration of the population,' the official said.
The official further said that the recommendations have been communicated to the commission, however, the official orders are yet to be issued.
While the commission may be entrusted with the task, officials have indicated the possibility of setting up a new committee for the purpose. Siddaramaiah has also asked his ministers to share their suggestions before finalising modalities.
Unlike the 2015 exercise, which relied heavily on schoolteachers and suffered delays, the upcoming survey will likely lean on digital tools to speed up data collection, the official quote above said.
With schools now in session, the government is considering deploying teachers after class hours and paying them for their time, said another official.
However, the revival of socio-educational survey efforts has reignited resistance from powerful communities, including Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats, who previously slammed the Kantharaju report as flawed and accused it of undercounting their populations.
On Sunday, the Samajika Nyaya Jagruthi Vedike warned the state against rushing into another survey. At a roundtable in Bengaluru, members questioned the need for a state-specific count when the Union government has already committed to a caste-based enumeration in the upcoming decadal census.
'The Karnataka government has already wasted 10 years in the name of caste census. A resolution was taken in the meeting to urge the government not to waste people's tax money and time to conduct another caste census,' said Vishnukant Chatapalli, a representative of the forum.
He further said, 'The central government will conduct a caste census along with the population census. The caste census will include social and educational aspects as well as cultural details. The Centre will spend ₹ 13,000 crore for this.'
Arguing that only Union-collected data would have constitutional legitimacy, the forum demanded the state to release the Kantharaju report to the public and refrain from initiating a parallel process. 'If the state government does not stop conducting separate caste censuses, legal action should be taken,' said Chatapalli.
Attacking the government, BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar questioned the chief minister's shifting position on implementing the Hegde report.
'No matter how much pressure comes, we will not accept Jayaprakash Hegde's report. Chief minister Siddaramaiah has repeatedly said that we will implement the recommendations of that report. But why did he change his stance after going to Delhi and returning?' he asked. 'Whether the government accepts or implements the report is a secondary issue. First, it should be released for public awareness.'
Responding to these criticisms, Congress MLA Yathindra, Siddaramaiah's son, blamed the previous governments for the delay in caste enumeration. 'Had those administrations responded appropriately and moved forward with the earlier report, we wouldn't be in a position where another survey is necessary,' he said, referring to the BJP and JD(S) governments' inaction on the 2015 report.
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