Will use caste census report as basis for budget preparation: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, which conducted the Social & Educational Survey (caste census) in 2015, has recommended hiking the OBC quota from 32 per cent to 51 per cent.
Bharath Joshi
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
BSP bid to woo OBCs to regain lost ground ahead of 2027 polls in U.P.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has launched an outreach programme to mobilise support from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in a bid to regain lost ground in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. BSP state unit president Vishwanath Pal said the party is organising OBC cadre camps in all 403 assembly constituencies across U.P, aiming to win back the support of backward communities that have been the backbone of the party since its inception in 1984. Party leaders and office-bearers have been directed to hold cadre camps in rural areas of each constituency. The district and assembly unit functionaries will reach out to OBC voters and apprise them of the welfare schemes launched by the previous BSP governments, Pal said. He added that the party would also inform OBCs about its future plans for their empowerment if it forms the government in 2027. The progress of these cadre camps will be reviewed monthly at the party's state headquarters. Members of backward communities, including Kurmi, Maurya, Kushwaha, Rajbhar, Pal, Nishad, Nai, Noniya, Bind, Mallah, Gujjar, and Prajapati, have been inducted into the camps. The BSP has also reactivated its 'bhai-chara' committees comprising members of various OBC groups, to consolidate its base among these voters. After losing power in the 2012 assembly elections, BSP president Mayawati attempted to woo Muslim voters. Community leaders were made zonal and divisional coordinators, and Muslim candidates received a lion's share of tickets in the 2014, 2019, and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as well as in the 2017 and 2022 assembly polls. However, the BSP candidates lost in Muslim-dominated constituencies. Following its defeat in the 2022 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati blamed the Muslim community for the party's dismal performance, stating that they preferred the Samajwadi Party and the Congress to the BSP. Mayawati has now instructed the party to refocus on backward communities. According to Vivek Kumar, a political observer, BSP founder Kanshi Ram worked on the Dalit- OBC formula to spread the Bahujan movement in U.P. The message was that Dalit-OBC could grab power. He got the support of the Kurmi community that was at loggerheads with the Yadavs. Kurmi leaders like Jang Bahadur Patel, Sone Lal Patel, Barkhu Ram Verma, and Lalji Verma joined the BSP, as did Rajbhar leaders like Sukhdev Rajbhar, Om Prakash Rajbhar, Ramachal Rajbhar. Noniya leader Dara Singh Chauhan as well as leaders from Maurya, Kushwaha, Nishad, Nai and Bind communities also came to the party fold, Kumar noted. 'Later, Sone Lal Patel launched Apna Dal and Om Prakash Rajbhar launched the SBSP, but the BSP's hold over the backward communities continued. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP projected Narendra Modi as the backward face of the party and worked on the rainbow coalition of upper castes, OBCs and Dalits to break into the BSP's support base. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP played the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) card to win over non-Yadav backward communities,' Kumar said. The shift of the OBCs towards the BJP and SP has led to the weakening of the BSP and its defeats in successive elections. To regain the lost base, the BSP leadership is now working to woo the OBCs by organising cadre camps, he added. SK Srivastava, another political analyst, recalled that Kanshi Ram launched the All-India SC, ST, OBC and Minority Employees Association (BAMCEF) in 1971 and the Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) in 1981 to mobilise support from the SC/ST, OBC and minority communities. In 1984, he floated the BSP to grab political power. The BSP will have to win the support of OBCs to regain its lost ground in U.P, he added.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Centre eyes quota for women ahead of 2029 elections
The Union government intends to roll out 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies—to be based on a fresh delimitation exercise—in time for the 2029 general elections, said three people aware of the details on Wednesday. The delimitation exercise is also likely to consider the demand from the southern states to ensure their proportionate representation in Parliament is not reduced, the people added. Also Read: Stick to pre-2010 7% quota on OBC students: Court Last week, the Union government said that the long-delayed census will be carried out in two phases before March 1 2027, announcing a crucial exercise that will enumerate caste for the first time since independence and likely become the basis for delimitation . However, given that the delimitation commission, which decides the new contours of the Lok Sabha and of Lok Sabha constituencies, will be formed after that, and will then have to work out the details, it was always assumed —especially before the surprise announcement of the much-delayed census—that the expansion of the Lok Sabha and the reservation of 33% of the seats for women would happen only in time for the 2034 national elections. Also Read: Panel drafts report on quota in J&K, to submit in next cabinet meeting The 2029 timeline is an aggressive one, and this is the first time it is being mentioned. Government officials are banking on digitisation to speed up the process of releasing the population numbers in time for the delimitation process which itself typically takes between two to three years to finalise, given the widespread consultation process. Also Read: State govt restores old in-house quota rule for Class 11 admissions after widespread opposition To be sure, the bigger challenge for the delimitation commission will be to address the concerns of the southern states which have demanded that population not be the sole criteria for deciding representation because that would effectively be punishing them for getting their population under control, the key national imperative in the 1970s and 1980s. The Women's reservation bill or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 that was passed in Parliament in September 2023, stipulates setting aside one third or 33% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. A provision in the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill also states that political reservation for women can come into effect only after the delimitation exercise is carried out. The delimitation process is frozen until after the first census conducted after the year 2026. 'We intend to roll out women's reservation by 2029. The process of conducting the census will begin soon and we are confident that it will be completed in three years. That will then be followed with a fresh delimitation process...,' said one of the three people cited in the first instance, a senior government functionary who spoke on condition of anonymity. His reference is likely to the publication of census data because the entire field exercise including information collection, house-listing and population enumeration will be completed by March 1, 2027. To a question on whether the government will accept the demand of the southern states to increase their Lok Sabha seats, the functionary said, the government has already assured the states that their concerns will be addressed. In February, while speaking at a party event in Coimbatore, union home minister Amit Shah said the southern states would not lose a single seat to delimitation. In a 2019 analysis first published in Hindustan Times Carnegie Endowment's scholars Milan Vaishnaw and Jamie Hinton wrote that extrapolated for 2026's estimated population, the Lok Sabha would have to become a 848-member House, with Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 143 (up from the current 80), and Bihar 79 (up from 40). In contrast, Tamil Nadu would see its numbers increase from 39 to 49, and Kerala would see its numbers stay at 20, lowering their proportionate representation in the Lok Sabha. Several opposition parties such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress have pointed out that should the delimitation exercise be based solely on population, it will reduce the representation of southern states in Parliament. Following the government's announcement of the Census, Tamil Nadu chief minister, MK Stalin, in a post on X, said, 'The Indian Constitution mandates that delimitation must follow the first census after 2026. The BJP has now delayed the census to 2027, making their plan clear to reduce Tamil Nadu's parliamentary representation. I had warned about this. It is now unfolding… We need clear answers from the Union government.' He also demanded that the 1971 census-based delimitation framework should be in place for another 30 years beyond 2026. 'Census data will pave the way for beginning the process of delimitation. A delimitation commission will be set up by Parliament, which will then draw up the formula for carving out the new constituencies and based on discussions with stakeholders,' said a second functionary, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Doubts arise over completing caste census afresh in 90 days
Bengaluru: Doubts have arisen over whether the govt will be able to complete the exhaustive socio-economic and education survey — or the caste census — within the 90-day time frame set by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Since the survey ran into stiff resistance from several communities, especially Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the Congress high command on Tuesday directed the govt to conduct the survey afresh. However, while many legislators say a re-enumeration within this time frame is an impossibility, ministers insist the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (BC) can complete the survey if it is a "shortened" version of the original. The original survey took two years to complete. BK Hariprasad, MLC and former AICC general secretary, accused the govt of "giving in" to those who claimed there were lapses in the original survey conducted 10 years ago. "These lapses cannot be called unscientific data collection," said Hariprasad. "The govt, in its fresh terms of reference, will have to provide reasons for what is considered unscientific and how it will be addressed in the fresh re-enumeration." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like "내장지방만 쏙 빠집니다!" 신현재, 복부 똥뱃살 순식간에 녹여 신현재 중년 복부비만 개선 더 알아보기 Undo He said re-enumeration cannot stop at only collecting population numbers but will have to go through the process of asking citizens all 52 questions again. "This process will definitely stretch beyond 90 days," he said. However, Siddaramaiah hinted that the govt would likely opt for a shortened survey. "It will only be a re-enumeration. In principle, the govt has accepted the original socio-economic and education survey report and will proceed with it after fresh data emerges," he said. Labour Minister Santosh Lad said he is "confident" the survey will be completed in 90 days. "We already have a large database. Enumerators will not have to visit all houses again," said Lad. "They need to visit only places or houses that need corrections or additions to the existing database. All these will be explained in the terms of reference." He said the terms of reference will be decided at Thursday's special cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, former backward classes commission chairmen, HR Kantharaju, who prepared the 2015 survey report, and Jayaprakash Hegde, who submitted a revised version of the report to the govt in 2024, said they can comment on the possibility of completing the survey in a short time only after the cabinet decides how the re-enumeration will be conducted.
