SC sub-caste census faces resistance in Bengaluru, BJP threatens stir
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
A door-to-door campaign to determine the SC population across the 101 sub-castes has met with resistance in parts of Bengaluru and other urban centres in Karnataka with enumerators facing physical threats and non-cooperation from residents.The BJP and sections of residents have also complained that the officials are pasting stickers on the walls of their homes indicating completion of survey without ever talking to them.There are also suspicions some SC families may not have revealed their true sub-caste fearing consequences. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, has said they are free to use the QR code or disclose their sub-castes online.Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa and Food Minister KH Muniyappa, representing the SC communities, raised the subject at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and complained to the CM about the non-cooperation from people in Bengaluru.The CM had in May kicked off the SC census to determine the population across the SC sub-castes and to assess their economic, educational and social backwardness as a precursor to introducing an internal quota. A commission headed by Justice HN Nagamohan Das has been manded to prepare the empirical data and end confusion over overlapping of communities in Adi Karnataka, Adi Andhra and Adi Dravida across the SC-Left (Madiga) and SC-Right (Holeya).The BJP on Thursday threatened to launch a state-wide agitation on August 1 if the government does not come up with an internal reservation policy by then. Former Dy CM Govind Karjol (BJP) said the Basavaraj Bommai government had introduced an internal quota according to the population of sub-castes. Madigas (SC-Left) have been demanding a separate quota within the SC bloc.While demanding the implementation of Bommai era policy, Karjol said the present exercise seemed like a conspiracy to create confusion and upend the internal quota system.A rational internal quota has been the long pending demand of the most-backward groups in the SC community, who feel left behind in getting opportunities in professional courses and in government jobs. Siddaramaiah's initiative on taking up an SC census follows the Congress-ruled Telangana's successful implementation of an internal quota for SCs, dividing them into three broad groups.The Supreme Court had, in August 2024, ruled that states could provide internal reservation within SCs, STs and socially and educationally backward classes to remove inequalities.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
4 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Congress releases list of 71 district presidents in M.P.; OBC leaders given maximum representation
The Congress on Saturday (August 16, 2025) released a list 71 district presidents in Madhya Pradesh, with a sizable 20-odd being those from the OBC category, followed by Dalits and tribals. Senior party leader Digvijaya Singh's MLA son and former State Minister Jaivardhan Singh has been made Guna district president, a Congress leader said. Other Backward Classes account for around 49% of M.P.'s population. The ruling BJP, incidentally, has had OBC chief ministers in the state since 2003, including Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and incumbent Mohan Yadav. The Congress' list has four women. These are Vijaylaxmi Tanwar, who has been made Agar Malwa district president, Pratibha Raghuvanshi in Khandwa city, Sunita Patel in Narsinghpur and Saraswati Singh Markam in Singrauli. A Congress leader said Omkar Singh Markam has been appointed Dindori district president, Priyavrat Singh has been given the post in Rajgarh and Harshvijay Gehlot has been made as Ratlam rural chief. They are all former State Ministers. In Bhopal, Praveen Saxena and Anokhi Man Singh Patel were retained as city and rural presidents, respectively. Eleven former legislators have been made district presidents. From the minority community, Arif Iqbal Siddiqui replaced Maqsood Ahmed in Satna as city chief. In all the party has retained 18 district presidents, including Nanesh Choudhary (Barwani), Ravi Naik (Khargone), Prakash Ranka (Jhabua), Nareshwar Pratap Singh (Shajapur), Mukesh Bhati (Ujjain city), Mohit Raghuvanshi (Vidisha), and Rajeev Gujarati (Sehore). In Burhanpur, Congress leader Hemant Patil resigned from all party posts after being denied the rural district president's position. He was the district Congress spokesperson as well. "I will remain a worker," he told PTI. His is the first resignation following the announcement of the list. There are leaders from the SC/ST categories as well as two Muslims, two Jains, one Sikh in the list, another Congress leader added. "The list has come in line with the vision of Rahul Gandhi who wants participation of all communities, especially OBCs, SCs and STs. Gandhi has been advocating caste-based census to end economic and social disparity," he said. The list released by AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal has come two months after Mr. Gandhi kicked off his party's 'Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan' (organisation rejuvenation campaign) in Madhya Pradesh. On June 3, Mr. Gandhi held back-to-back meetings here with party functionaries as part of preparations for the 2028 M.P. assembly polls. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP swept all 29 seats in MP, including Chhindwara, the home turf of senior leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath. The Congress has been out of power in MP since 2003, except for a brief 15-month period between December 2018 and March 2020 under Mr. Nath. The Nath government collapsed after several MLAs, most of them loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, quit and joined the BJP. The BJP retained power with a huge majority in the 2023 assembly polls.
Deccan Herald
34 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
9% SC/STs have come out of poverty, says Minister Mahadevappa
Mahadevappa was speaking after a meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired to approve an action plan to spend Rs 42,017.51 crore under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP).
India Today
37 minutes ago
- India Today
Complaint against ED over illegal entry into MLA hostel amid DMK-linked raids
Chennai's Triplicane Police has registered a complaint against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of illegal entry into the Tamil Nadu MLA hostel, as the central agency conducted raids linked to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Minister I Periyasamy and his son, I P Senthilkumar, an complaint, filed by Assembly Deputy Secretary Bhaskaran, accuses unidentified individuals, referred to as 'unknown persons' in the Community Service Register (CSR), of breaking into the MLA hostel without prior raids, conducted across multiple locations in Chennai and Dindigul on Saturday, were part of an ongoing money laundering investigation against Minister Periyasamy and his family. The ED action comes in the wake of an April 2025 order by the Madras High Court, directing a special court in Dindigul to frame charges and conduct day-to-day trial proceedings in a Rs 2.1 crore disproportionate assets case involving the minister, his wife, and two sons. The complaint regarding the hostel entry has added a legal flashpoint to what the ruling DMK describes as a politically motivated ED's probe is linked to a disproportionate assets case first filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). Periyasamy and his family are accused of amassing Rs 2.1 crore worth of assets between 2006 and 2010, during his earlier tenure as minister, allegedly beyond their known sources of income. Though a special court had earlier discharged the accused, the Madras High Court reversed the order in April, directing fresh framing of charges and a fast-tracked trial.I P Senthilkumar, the minister's son and a current MLA, is also under the ED's scanner in connection with the same raid on Periyasamy's properties follows earlier ED actions against senior DMK leaders including K Ponmudy and V Senthil Balaji. The latter is being probed in a cash-for-jobs scam, while Ponmudy faces investigation over alleged illegal sand DMK has consistently alleged that central agencies are being selectively deployed against opposition leaders, particularly in non-BJP-ruled CALLS RAID A POLITICAL VENDETTAReacting sharply to the raids, DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi accused the BJP-led Centre of orchestrating a political vendetta. "The ED has become an election instrument for the BJP. This is not an investigation; it's a diversion from the real issue — vote chori," he said, referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's term for alleged electoral fraud in the 2024 general alleged that the Centre was targeting the DMK with renewed investigations into old cases, while ignoring pending files seeking the Governor's sanction for action against former AIADMK ministers."The BJP stands exposed for misusing the Election Commission and now the ED to manipulate public perception. The ED's interest in decades-old cases after we returned to power shows the depth of this vendetta — even a child can see it," he DMK MP Kanimozhi echoed the sentiment, calling the raids an intimidation tactic. Speaking in Tuticorin, she said, "The BJP is weaponising agencies like ED, IT and CBI against opposition parties. These raids are nothing but desperate attempts to silence us. But we will face this."She added that Minister Periyasamy had "faced many challenges and stood firm with the party," and that such actions will not deter the DMK's leadership or cadre.- EndsMust Watch
