Those Opposing Caste Survey in Karnataka are Among the Most Socially Advanced Communities in the State

The Wire

19-05-2025

Brahmins, Vokkaligas, and Lingayats – the three communities that have been opposing the caste survey claiming that it is 'unscientific' – are among the most socially advanced communities, leaked portions of Karnataka's Social and Education Survey show. The survey, commissioned by the previous Siddaramaiah government in 2015, measured overall backwardness in terms of social, educational and livelihood indicators.
Caste associations of Brahmins, Vokkaligas, and Lingayats have been consistently opposing the survey on various grounds, their biggest grouse being that the survey had under-counted their communities. However, the caste survey was aimed at measuring social backwardness and not populations of individual castes or sub-castes.
Leaked portions of the survey, which TNM accessed, suggest that Brahmins, Vokkaligas, and Lingayats are among the state's most socially advanced communities. These findings are broadly in line with the findings of the O Chinnappa Reddy Commission, which submitted its report in April 1990.
The leaked portion of the survey is only a partial list of the scores of 23 'main castes' that are among the numerically larger caste groups. The document shows that five communities are the least socially backward, starting with Brahmins, followed by Christians, Vokkaligas, Neygis, and Lingayat-Veerashaivas. Muslims are seventh.
The survey measures and assigns scores for social, educational, and livelihood backwardness and an overall score after taking these into account. Communities are given scores out of 100 for social backwardness, out of 68 for educational backwardness, and out of 32 for livelihood, which add up to a total score of 200. The higher the score, the greater the backwardness.
The various communities scored between 12 and 147 out of 200 on overall backwardness, with the mid-point being 90. Those with a score higher than 90 were categorised as Most Backward, 50-89 as More Backward, and those with a score of 20-49 as Backward. Communities with a score of below 20 were considered as General.
Brahmins, who comprise 2.62% of the state's population according to the survey, have the lowest score on overall backwardness at 11.29. This is the only community on the list of 23 that has a score below 20. On social and educational backwardness, the community scores 1.12 and 1.19 respectively, and on livelihood backwardness, 8.98.
Lingayats, who constitute 11.09% of the state's people, have an overall score of 41.58, while Vokkaligas form 10.31% of the state's population and score 42.6.