BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the caste census was conducted scientifically, covering 98% of the rural and 95% of the urban population. Slamming BJP leaders for calling the census unscientific, he said it was done effectively.
He told the media here on Saturday that the caste census was a key promise in Congress’s election manifesto, and the government is determined to fulfil it. The caste census is important to assess the financial, social and educational status of all communities in the state, Siddaramaiah added.
“A caste census has not been conducted since 1931. Both the high court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly asked the state government to provide empirical data to better understand the socio-economic conditions of various communities. This makes the caste census essential,” he explained.
He acknowledged the challenges in covering 100% of the population, but noted that the government, with the support of thousands of school teachers, had managed to reach close to 100% of the population. The findings of the caste census would soon be introduced in the Assembly, he added.
Siddaramaiah criticised former chief minister Jagadish Shettar’s remarks that the caste census is ineffective. Shettar fails to understand how such surveys are conducted, the CM said, and called Shettar unfit for leadership roles, both as chief minister and as leader of Opposition.
Responding to the BJP’s Janakrosha campaign against rising prices of essential commodities, Siddaramaiah questioned the party’s moral authority to protest.
“BJP has no right to complain about price hikes when the central government has raised prices of petrol, diesel and LPG,” he said. He blamed the rising cost of living on the Centre’s policies, pointing out that fuel prices had surged despite global crude oil prices dropping to USD 65 per barrel — almost half of the USD 120 per barrel rate during former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure.