BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission has removed 14 castes tagged to Christianity from the Socio, Economic and Educational Survey, also known as the caste survey, which began across the state on Monday.
The commission stated in its official statement on Tuesday that Adi Andhra Christian, Adi Karnataka Christian, Vadda Christian, Valmiki Christian and other such castes have been removed from the survey list.
The decision to remove these castes was taken by the commission at its meeting on Tuesday. “After receiving suggestions, these castes have been removed from the final list. They have also been erased from the enumerators’ handbook,” it stated.
A delegation of BJP leaders, led by leader of opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and V Sunil Kumar, met commission Chairman Madhusudan Naik and urged him not to include these castes in the list. During their meeting, the leaders said that out of 48 castes with the Christian tag, the commission had agreed to remove 33 castes from the survey list, but the remaining 15 too should be erased.
In their memorandum, the BJP leaders stated that the 15 castes from among Scheduled Castes with Christian identity had not been mentioned in the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee survey for internal reservation among Scheduled Castes.
The mention of these castes in the caste survey would cause big confusion, the BJP delegation told the commission. Speaking to the media after meeting the commission chairman, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said such castes had not been mentioned in any of the previous surveys. “Why were they added now? It is all part of a conspiracy.
The commission chairman assured us that a decision will be taken today (Tuesday). If they fail to decide, the commission will be responsible for the consequences. That was conveyed to the commission,” he added.
There were heated arguments during the meeting as BJP leaders pointed to people being upset over the inclusion of such dual castes in the survey, he added.
Last week, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, too, had raised concerns following a representation by a BJP delegation and had written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, pointing out that the inclusion of castes with the Christian tag would create unrest in society.