Karnataka’s cabinet on Thursday decided to conduct a fresh socio-educational survey of various castes in the state and not to implement the recommendations of the previous survey–popularly called the caste census–conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.
The decision came after the Congress high command met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday, after which the party leadership asked Siddaramaiah to go for a “re-enumeration” of the populations of the different castes in the state. The diktat from the high command came when the chief minister was on the verge of having his cabinet clear the recommendations of the survey report in a special cabinet meeting held on Thursday.
Siddaramaiah, who announced the decision at a news conference, referred to a provision under the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act to defend the fresh survey.
As per Section 11, Clause 1 of the Act, the findings of the Socio-economic and Education Survey carried out in 2015 would be invalid as 10 years had passed since then. “The State Government may at any time, and shall, at the expiration of ten years from the coming into force of this Act and every succeeding period of ten years thereafter, undertake revision of the lists with a view to excluding from such lists those classes who have ceased to be backward classes or for including in such lists, new backward classes,” the clause reads.
“The provision is very clear,” Siddaramaiah said, adding “…the cabinet, considering these clauses, has decided that since the commission conducted the survey 10 years ago, we will ask the commission to go for a fresh survey.”
Responding to queries, the chief minister said the modalities of the exercise would be announced soon but the survey would be completed in a 90-day time frame.
The recommendations of the survey report–such as shifting Kurubas from Category 2A (Other Backward Classes) to Category 1 (Backward Castes), enhancing reservation for Muslims under the 2B category from four to eight per cent, enhancing reservation for the 3A and 3B categories, which include the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, from existing four and five per cent to seven and eight per cent, respectively–will now be scrapped.
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The re-survey is considered a setback for the chief minister, who had along with senior ministers such as Satish Jarkiholi and H C Mahadevappa pushed for the implementation of the survey. At the same time, the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities and their leaders had cast apprehensions on the survey and publicly opposed its findings.
Sources say that Shivakumar had opposed the report in the cabinet meeting held on June 5 and flew to Delhi earlier this week seeking the intervention of the high command.
“Both Vokkaligas and Lingayats teaming up due to the report would not augur well for the party in the next elections,” an aide close to Shivakumar said, claiming it to be the reason for the Vokkaliga leader to lobby against the report.
Apart from that, prominent Lingayat leaders too are learnt to have complained to the Congress high command about the “complications” the report would create if its recommendations were to be implemented.
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Siddaramaiah commissioned the survey in 2015 during his first tenure as chief minister and it was accepted by the state cabinet in April this year.Karnataka caste re-survey, Karnataka caste census, re-enumeration of castes, Siddaramaiah, Vokkaliga, Lingayat, D K Shivakumar