BENGALURU: Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murthy refusing to participate in the Socio-Educational Survey-2025, popularly known as the caste census, being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for the Backward Classes has continued to stir the controversy, with senior Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad alleging that it amounts to concealing vital public information.
The permanent invitee for CWC Hariprasad take to 'X' to come down heavily on Murthy terming her move as the height of hypocrisy.
"When a head of one of India’s IT companies & who is a Rajya Sabha MP — openly says they will not participate in the caste census, it’s nothing short of concealing vital public information. The irony is glaring! These are the very people who deliver sermons on transparency, ethics & compliance. Yet when it comes to social accountability, they hide behind privilege & selective silence. This is the height of hypocrisy — time to practice what you preach before lecturing & making tall claims on X before the nation on values & governance", he elaborated.
Sudha Murthy and her husband, Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy, had declined to participate in the survey saying that they do not belong to a backward community and hence would not take part in this survey. Karnataka High Court, in its order, had clarified that participation in the survey is optional and voluntary.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, however had stated that he will respect her stand with labour minister Santhosh Lad echoing the same. But the IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge alleged that Sudha Murthy might be inspired by the BJP leaders who had given an open call to the public to not to particiapate in the survey.
Meanwhile the self-declaration of the family's refusal to participate in the survey as it would not serve any purpose for the government, going public on social networking sites triggered outrage by a section of concerned persons.
Former minister S Suresh Kumar has taken the government to task for disclosing the declaration. "When many people hesitated to provide details for this survey, citing various reasons, the state government had assured that “all the information provided by the public will be kept very strictly confidential and will not be disclosed in any way.When the matter came before the state High Court, it also said that “the details provided by the public during the survey will be kept confidential and everyone’s privacy will be protected”, he pointed out.
But circulation of the declaration in the public domain is a matter of great concern, he said. "Is not the state government cheating the people by saying that everyone’s information will be kept confidential?", he questioned. He demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should clarify for not respecting the privacy of Narayana Murthy family."This is a violation of the promise made to the judiciary, a violation of the promise made to the state, and a phenomenon that has proven the total incompetence of the government or that the government has lied to the state", he stated.
