Latest news with #SES-2015
New Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
SC survey under credibility cloud, community leaders worried in Karnataka
BENGALURU: Authenticity is going to be a challenge for the ongoing Scheduled Caste (SC) internal quota survey with some leaders of the community questioning its conduct. Apart from technical glitches early on, there are allegations that some enumerators lack in training and enthusiasm. A hurried job would reduce the Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission to the fate of the Socio Economic Educational Survey (SES-2015) by Backward Classes Commission, which some communities dubbed unscientific, according to certain SC communities' leaders. The leadership of SC left and SC right communities has questioned how mere self-declaration would lead to credibility in the absence of caste certificates. They fear that considerable number of non-SCs would enumerate themselves falsely as 'beda jangama' and it would change the caste equation. During the 2001 census 'beda jangama' number was about 4,000 across the state and restricted to four or five districts, that grew to 54,000 in 2011 and in the SES-2015 it was around 4.4 lakh. 'Over a period of time thousands have taken false caste certificates as 'beda jangama' and if their number increased further in the Das commission report it would add to the mess', said C Bhanuprakash, a DSS leader. He also raised the issue of lack of training for enumerators and lack of Android cellphones. He alleged that they were conducting the survey in a jiffy.
New Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Karnataka cabinet defers caste census discussion, yet again
BENGALURU: The State cabinet once again deferred discussion of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (SES-2015) or caste census, on Friday. Law Minister HK Patil said it will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting. Reports of the survey were given to ministers at the cabinet meeting held on April 17. They had decided to discuss it on May 2, and deferred it to May 9. Now, the cabinet has again postponed discussing the caste census. Patil told reporters that the Backward Class Commission had submitted its report to the cabinet. A discussion was initiated, and some ministers gave suggestions to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. While 11 ministers gave their opinion in writing, the remaining are yet to do so, Patil said. Asked if the delay was because of the Union government's plans to include caste in the next census, he denied it. Backward Classes Minister Shivaraj Thangadagi said, 'We have decided to discuss it at the next cabinet meeting, which will be held next week.'
New Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
MBC leaders slam new quota, caste inaccuracies in Karnataka census
BENGALURU: Karnataka's More and Most Backward Caste (MBCs) leaders came together under the leadership of actor-activist Chetan Ahimsa on Thursday, to criticise the Backward Classes Commission, and denounce what they said was 'betrayal of social justice.' Terming the newly-introduced 1B reservation category 'unscientific, unjust, and politically motivated', speakers accused the Commission of bypassing academic and employment data and educational statistics to fabricate the category for political convenience. 'This is not social justice,' declared one speaker. MBC nomadic communities demanded their own scientific subclassification. Actor Chetan Ahimsa said that while the Karnataka Socio-Economic & Educational Survey (SES-2015) was billed as a tool for social justice, it is looking more like caste manipulation. Ahimsa pointed to the sudden formation of 1B category in April 2025, which grants 12 per cent reservation to 80 castes, including the Kuruba community, to which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah belongs. He questioned why castes previously under Groups 1 and 2A were reshuffled, and communities like Kurubas (formerly 2A) were placed with some of the state's most vulnerable, such as Devadasis and Hallaki Vokkaligas. 'The math doesn't add up,' he said. '1B has a population of 73.9 lakh, smaller than 2A's 77.7 lakh, yet gets 2 per cent more reservation. What justifies this?'
New Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
With caste conundrum on backburner, Siddaramaiah likely to focus on admin
BENGALURU: Contentious caste issues have come in handy for Siddaramaiah to consolidate his position both as Chief Minister and a champion of AHINDA communities. The tabling of the Socio Economic and Educational Survey (SES-2015) report and the recommendation of the Backward Classes Commission to restructure the Backward Classes quota in the cabinet for discussion and commitment to implement the internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), were aimed at benefiting the AHINDA communities. With the backing of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader and LoP in Lok Sabha, to table SES-2015 and the Supreme Court's Aug.1, 2024, judgment allowing the states to implement the internal quota for the SCs, the CM was poised to strengthen his position. A section of castes within the SC category were opposing the internal quota for decades but Siddaramaiah sensed his opportunity with the apex court's judgment, according to political analysts. Even as the two dominant castes, Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas, opposed the SES-2015 dubbing it as unscientific, the Centre's announcement of adding enumeration of caste as part of the national census is likely to dampen the is unlikely to disturb Siddaramaiah from his position, said a Congress legislator belonging to SC community. But other sources within Congress predict that once Siddaramaiah completed two-and-half years as CM in October, the issue of change of guard would resurface. The decision, however, would be in the hands of Rahul and AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, also hailing from Karnataka.
New Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
CM Siddaramaiah says Centre declared caste census with eye on Bihar polls
BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government had decided to include caste enumeration in the census, keeping in mind the coming Bihar Assembly elections. 'In 2015 itself, our Congress government in Karnataka spent Rs 192 crore on conducting a socio-economic and educational survey. Inspired by this and keeping the Bihar elections in mind, the Union government had decided to conduct the census,' he told reporters here. Siddaramaiah said that he would give full credit to Rahul Gandhi, who had been seeking such a caste census for long, for the Union government's decision. 'I welcome the Union government's decision to include caste enumeration in the census. To ensure social justice to people, a social and educational survey should be conducted along with this census. The ceiling of 50% for extending reservation should be removed to make quota proportional to the population,' he said. "Like Rahul Gandhi, he had also sought reservation in private educational institutions as per Article 15, Clause (5) of the Constitution," Siddaramaiah said. He said that a decision on the socio-economic and educational survey (SES-2015) report will be taken at the cabinet meeting on May 9. On whether the Centre's census will affect the state government's survey, he said it will not as the SES-2015 report has already been presented before the cabinet. The Centre is yet to conduct the census, he added.
