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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Caste survey for social justice: Siddaramaiah
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday formally announced the decision to carry out a fresh caste-based socio-educational survey across the state within a 90-day timeline, scrapping the earlier 2015 exercise and its subsequent 2024 report. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the move after a special cabinet meeting in Bengaluru. 'We have taken a decision in the cabinet. It was a unanimous decision that a new survey is to be conducted,' he said. The government will consult the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC), which will oversee the survey and submit its report within the stipulated time. Siddaramaiah said, 'The government will consult the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission… we are going to give 90 days' time to survey afresh and to give the report.' The CM said the decision was in line with Section 11(1) of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, which mandates a new survey every 10 years. 'After considering all aspects and the law, as it has been 10 years since the Socio-Educational survey was conducted by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission, the cabinet has decided to go for a new survey; and as per Section 11(2) of the Act, it has been decided to consult the commission in this regard.' The Congress high command, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, directed the state earlier this week to initiate a fresh enumeration, citing concerns of underrepresentation of communities in the earlier exercise. Asked whether the move was made under pressure, Siddaramaiah responded, 'Just because they asked us to do a new survey, we are not doing it. We have not succumbed to pressure from the high command.' Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, also present at the post-cabinet press briefing, echoed this sentiment, stating, 'We don't want political colour. We want social justice. For this reason, we have decided to conduct a caste census again. The opposition parties, who criticised the previous report, are now talking the opposite way.' He said the decision was made after carefully considering public opinion and the views of legislators. 'Anyone can say anything. We have given our consent to the re-examination of the caste census after understanding the feelings and opinions of the people and legislators.' The 2015 survey was conducted from April 11 to May 30 by over 1.6 lakh staff, including 1.33 lakh teachers. It covered 5.98 crore people out of an estimated 6.35 crore population at the time, based on the 2011 Census. The survey had been based on 54 parameters through a door-to-door process. Despite the exhaustive nature of the 2015 survey, it was widely criticised—especially by Karnataka's two dominant communities, the Vokkaligas and the Veerashaiva-Lingayats—who termed it 'unscientific' and demanded that it be rejected. Siddaramaiah noted, 'It is not a question of Vokkaligas or Lingayats. Other backward communities have also given their suggestions.' There was also opposition within the ruling Congress party to accepting the 2015 data. 'Only after discussions started did we realise that, by law and constitutional provisions, it was 10 years old, and a fresh survey was needed,' Siddaramaiah said. 'The provision in the Act is clear that a new survey has to be conducted every 10 years, after which a new list of backward classes could be drawn up by either deleting existing castes or adding new ones.' Siddaramaiah also clarified that although the cabinet had earlier considered the recommendations submitted in February 2024 by the K Jayaprakash Hegde-led commission—based on the 2015 data—it was now deemed outdated. 'The delivery of social justice is possible on the basis of the new report,' he added. When asked what would happen to recommendations such as increasing Muslim reservation to 8%, the CM said, 'After the new survey it will be re-examined.' Responding to a question about the Centre's announcement on including caste data in the national census, he said Karnataka's survey would differ because 'they have nowhere said that they will do a socio-educational survey'. The 2015 survey, conducted under then KSBCC chairman H Kantharaju, had not been accepted during Siddaramaiah's first term as CM (2013-18). He explained that after Congress lost the 2018 election, the then CM HD Kumaraswamy allegedly blocked the acceptance of the survey report. 'Kantharaju had approached the then backward classes welfare minister Puttarangashetty with a request to receive the report, but the then CM Kumaraswamy put pressure on the minister not to receive it,' Siddaramaiah alleged. Later, the BJP government appointed K Jayaprakash Hegde, who was with the party at the time, to head the commission and submit a report based on the old data. Although the report was submitted on February 29, 2024, parliamentary elections delayed cabinet discussions on it until April. The report was placed before the cabinet for the first time on April 11 and discussed in 3-4 meetings since then. Asked about the survey cost, Siddaramaiah declined to comment. He, however, confirmed that members to the Backward Classes Commission would be appointed 'in the next two to three days,' and arrangements would be made to allow Kannadigas living abroad to participate in the survey online. 'This is the original intention of the Congress party,' Shivakumar added. 'Our aim is to involve everyone in the society.' BJP MLC N Ravikumar objected to taxpayer money spent in crores for the 2015 survey if its data were to be rejected in the end. Ravikumar said the Congress's suggestion to re-enumerate the data collected under the 2015 social and educational survey was a 'slap' to the Siddaramaiah-led government, which originally commissioned and supported it during its first term. 'The Congress high command has done injustice to the backward classes. The Congress high command also slammed Siddaramaiah, saying that it was 10 years old and the figures were old,' he said. Ravikumar, who is also the chief whip of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, added that Siddaramaiah had intended to implement the caste census figures submitted by the Permanent Backward Classes Commission but changed his stance after returning from Delhi. 'Many in Congress had objected to the caste census figures. However, Siddaramaiah had said that he would implement it. But he says that he would conduct a new caste census after returning from Delhi. If so, why did he spend ₹165 crore of taxpayer money? Siddaramaiah, who was called the champion of the backward classes, has done injustice to them,' he said. Shivakumar challenged critics within opposition ranks: 'Let Kumaraswamy, Vijayendra, and Ashok hold a press conference again and say that they should accept the old report… The opposition parties are talking one thing in the past and another in the future.'
Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
22 Karnataka ministers' views hanging fire, Siddaramaiah defers action on caste survey
The Siddaramaiah Cabinet has again deferred any decision on the report of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC) on the socio-economic and educational caste survey report after holding a brief discussion on it. The Congress-led government said the decision was deferred on the caste survey report to facilitate more extensive discussions among the ministers on the issue. 'We had a discussion again on the report of the caste survey and many ministers offered their advice to the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah). More opinions are expected and some information was presented by the Minister for Welfare of Backward Classes. There will be further discussions in the next Cabinet meeting,' Law Minister H K Patil said after the Cabinet meeting on Friday. 'Some ministers have given their opinions about the report and more (ministers' opinions) are awaited,' Patil said. The next Cabinet meeting on the issue is likely to take place in the upcoming week. On February 29, 2024, the KSBCC submitted a report to the Siddaramaiah government on the state-wide social and educational survey of castes conducted in 2015. The sealed envelope of the report was opened only on April 11 in a Cabinet meeting. The matter was placed before the Cabinet for further action on the report and its data. In the April 18 special Cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah directed all his 34 ministers to provide their opinions on the report in writing for a thorough discussion. However, only about 12 ministers have given their opinions over the caste survey report so far. There is a strong push from the Congress's OBC leaders for the government to accept the report which indicates that 70% of the state population belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). There has been resistance from the state's dominant communities like Lingayats and Vokkaligas to the caste survey report, which has indicated their populations to be 13.6% and 12.2% — lesser than their estimated populations of 15% and 17% respectively. They have opposed the report on the ground that it was 'unscientific' and has not counted their numbers correctly. However, the April 30 announcement by the BJP-led central government of its proposal to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming population Census is expected to bring down their resistance. These dominant communities also feature under the OBC category in Karnataka along with Muslims, and the KSBCC report has recommended an increase in their quotas as well. The Congress leadership has indicated that it would pursue the strategy of pushing the BJP at the Centre to increase the reservations in government jobs and education above the existing 50% ceiling to enable higher quotas for various communities as per their respective shares in the population. The Siddaramaiah government may enact a law to increase reservation in the state above the 50% limit based on the KSBCC report's recommendations. Based on the socio-economic and educational caste survey of 2015, the KSBCC has recommended an increase in reservation for the OBC groups from the existing 32% to 51% in proportion to their population, thereby taking the overall quota for the backward communities to 69% — including 18% for Scheduled Castes (SCs)/ Scheduled Tribes (STs) — and the total reservation to 79% which includes 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The All India Congress Committee (AICC)'s president Mallikarjun Kharge recently said that 'The Union government must remove the present reservation cap of 50% and include the SCs/STs/OBCs and EWS in the revised reservations.'
