BENGALURU: Ahead of Karnataka’s state-wide caste census, the Vokkaliga community is mobilising and deploying thousands of volunteers to ensure their accurate numbers are counted.
“The numbers are wrong... we are not 62 lakh. We are at least 75 lakh, if not more,” said M Nagaraj, president, Vokkaliga Meesalathi Horata Samiti, at a meeting.
Citing flaws in the Kantharaj commission’s earlier estimates, Nagaraj and Samiti Convenor Auditor Nagaraj announced that an army of village-level volunteers will be formed to ensure every Vokkaliga household is counted. “We’re launching a movement. Two trained volunteers or swayamsevaks in every village will visit each family and assist them in filling out all the 69 census heads. This time, the government cannot ignore us,” they said.
The initiative is being coordinated under the umbrella of Vokkaliga pontiffs. Community leaders explain that some smaller sub-castes are not too well educated and volunteers are needed to ensure fairness and accuracy.
Some smaller groups like the Karnataka Vokkaliga Action Committee, in partnership with the Vokkaliga Welfare Forum, too are raising awareness on the census. The Vokkaliga Kriya Samiti started the campaign with a major community meeting at Kempathahalli, Hebbal that drew a host of influential sub-sect leaders and strategists. M Nagaraj and Auditor Nagaraj said, ‘’The Vokkaligara Sangha alone claims to have address data of over 25 lakh members, and the plan is to leverage it to cover all 16 districts south of Chitradurga, where the majority of Karnataka’s Vokkaligas reside.’’
KG Kumar, president, Vokkaliga Action Committee, urged members to identify themselves solely as “Vokkaliga” regardless of their sub-caste. “There are 84 recognised sub-groups, but we must speak with one voice. Our strength lies in our unity,” he added. A united Vokkaliga count could significantly shift the balance in both representation and resource allocation. For the past few years, Vokkaligas and the other dominant community, Lingayats, have held coordination meetings on the census and reservation.