BENGALURU: With successive governments preferring political decisions over previous survey reports in the recent past, questions remain over the fate of Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, 2025.
The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes is likely to submit its report to the government in December. If the survey gets completed as scheduled by October 7, the commission will start analysing the data for the recommendations, including reclassification of the backward classes quota.
Ultimately, the report will land in the cabinet. The dominant castes which have come together during the ongoing survey rely upon their backers in the Congress for their adequate share in the reclassification of the backward classes quota.
Citing the previous instances, experts say the decision would be a political one and not based on the backwardness of the communities as per the survey’s conclusions.
The Kantharaju Commission report on the Socio Educational Survey, 2015, and Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission’s report on internal quota for the SC communities had led to turbulence during the cabinet meetings with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah facing the backlash from his cabinet colleagues, sources said.
Eventually the government tweaked the Das commission’s recommendation of forming A, B, C, D and E categories and reduced it to A (SC left, B (SC right) and C (Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha, Korama and nomadic SCs) and shared 17 per cent quota with 6 each and 5 per cent, respectively. It removed the 1 per cent quota separately allotted to the most backward nomadic SCs by putting them into the category C which has the less backward castes. Since the nomadic SCs had no representation in the cabinet or in the legislature either, the decision was easy for the government, observed the experts.
In the recent past no government has implemented the recommendations of the previous commissions but tweaked it to its advantage.
The previous BJP government did not implement the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission report on the SC internal quota as it had set up a cabinet sub- committee. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government did not implement the Kantharaju Ccommission report and tried but in vain to reclassify the quota following K Jayaprakash Hegde Commission’s recommendations.
“On the pretext of the commission reports the ruling governments have taken political decisions keeping aside social justice for the marginalised, oppressed communities. So, the commissions have been gradually losing their relevance. It is a waste of resources. It has been happening for decades. Even my recommendations for the welfare of nomadics, devadasi women and the HIV-infected people were discarded,” said Dr CS Dwarakanath, former chairman, Backward Classes Commission.