BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC) is all set to submit the much-awaited report on the socio-economic education survey, also known as caste survey, to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday.
Successive governments, including Siddaramaiah’s, had dragged their feet on accepting the report that had been mired in controversies. The government had spent a whopping Rs 162 crore for the door-to-door survey. The report is coming at a time when the Congress has been promising to conduct a caste survey with impetus on backwardness of the SC, ST, OBC communities if the I.N.D.I.A bloc comes to power after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Even senior party leader Rahul Gandhi had made a statement in this regard.
“We will fulfil our responsibility by submitting the detailed report along with the data collected during the survey to the government,” commission chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde told TNIE. His term along with the five members of the commission, which was extended, will come to an end on Thursday.
The 300-400-page report consists of the analysis of the data regarding backwardness of the communities and has certain recommendations, according to sources. Present member-secretary of the commission, K A Dayananda, who is commissioner of the Backward Classes Department, has signed the “modified” report. After receiving the report, the government is likely to table it during a cabinet meeting, scheduled to be held on Thursday, for necessary action.
Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders across all parties are opposing the government’s plan to accept it. But SC, ST and OBC communities are in favour of the report and are backing Siddaramaiah to the hilt to accept it. They feel that it will come in handy for the government to understand their backwardness and give adequate representation. Now, the report is likely to create ripples and a fresh round of controversy especially as the LS polls are just round the corner.
During his first term as chief minister in 2013-2018, Siddaramaiah had initiated the survey by appointing H Kantharaju as chairman of the commission in 2015. But his government could not receive the report as it was not complete and successive governments had followed suit. When H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai were chief ministers, they too deferred accepting it.