BENGALURU: Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC) Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde submitted the much-awaited report of the Socioeconomic and Education Survey, popularly known as caste census report, to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday.
According to sources, the report has 48 volumes and the main recommendation booklet is of 200 pages, with each of the volumes possessing data on the set of different castes.
The report also includes caste data based on Assembly constituencies, besides details about castes with smaller demograpies, which were not included in earlier reports. The survey was conducted on 1,351 different castes.
The sources added that as many as 5.98 crore people were included in the survey. Over 3.98 crore are from the AHINDA (minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits) group, while 1.87 crore are Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Brahmins, and other castes.
“The committee has recommended increasing the reservation quota for Scheduled Castes. It also stressed that Veerashaivas and Lingayats are the same,” sources said.
Bommai seeks open debate
Meanwhile, with leaders from the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities being opposed to the report, even before its contents were made public, Siddaramaiah said he is yet to study the same. “It will be placed before the cabinet and decided upon,” the CM told reporters on Thursday.
Hegde told reporters that the CM has assured to place the report before the cabinet. “We have carried out the survey scientifically, and it is not right for people to oppose it, without seeing it,” he said.
Just a few months ago, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and other leaders from the Vokkaliga community had urged the CM not to accept the report as it was not prepared scientifically and door-to-door survey was not done. The Vokkaligara Sangha had submitted a memorandum to the CM against the caste census, which was signed by Shivakumar and Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar. After this, Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, who heads Veerashaiva Mahasabha, also expressed opposition to the report. They are demanding a re-survey.
It was during his earlier tenure as the CM, between 2013 and 2018, when Siddaramaiah commissioned the survey. The then Chairman of KSCBC, H Kantharaju, had completed it and prepared a report in 2018. It was, however, neither accepted nor made public.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Basavaraj bommai urged Siddaramaiah to clarify whether this report is the Kantharaju Commission report or the Jayaprakash Hegde Commission report.
There should be an open debate. He told reporters that there was no mention of caste census in the Kantharaju report. There are many applications pending before the Supreme Court, on who has to carry out the caste census. “We’re not against any Backward Class, but based on their population, one should get justice. This should not become dice during polls,” he said.
At the same time, it remains unclear if the government will make the report public ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Veerashaiva-Lingayats threaten state-wide stir
With KSCBC Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde submitting the final caste census report to the CM, the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha has demanded that the government not accept it. The forum warned that if the government ignored their demand, they would organise a state-wide struggle.