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Govt examining caste census demand, says Karnataka CM
The calls made in Karnataka, mirrors those in other states as well where several political parties, including allies of the BJP, have demanded the conducting a caste census.
With several stakeholders piling up pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led Karnataka government to release the findings of the socio-economic and education survey or caste census, chief minister Basvaraj Bommai on Sunday said that the state government is examining the growing developments around it.
“Everybody’s free to meet the Prime Minister. The matter is there in front of court as well as the backward classes commission. We are examining it,” Bommai said on Sunday.
The calls made in Karnataka, mirrors those in other states as well where several political parties, including allies of the BJP, have demanded the conducting a caste census.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, on Friday had said that a 10-party delegation would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand for conducting a caste-based census.
Even in the just concluded Parliament session, several parties demanded that the 50% cap on reservation be removed.
Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress’ leader of the opposition, Siddaramaiah, on Friday lashed out at the Bommai-led government for not releasing the findings of the 2015 caste census in Karnataka.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka commissioned the “Socio-Economic and Education Survey”, better known as caste-census, in 2015 at a cost of around ₹150 crore, employing 1,06,000 people for 45 days to pose around 55 questions to 13.5 million households across the state.
Caste has a huge bearing on Karnataka’s socio-cultural life and its volatile politics.
Siddaramaiah has also been accused of holding back the findings of the report since his term in office ended only in 2018, three years after the report was prepared, allegedly due to pressure from his own partymen belonging to dominant communities, Hindustan Times reported on Saturday.
The rise of reservation-related demands by dominant communities like the Panchamasali, one the largest sub-sects within the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Valmiki and the Kuruba’s has added to the challenges of the Bommai government who has been trying to uphold the promises made by his predecessor, BS Yediyurappa.
Any attempt in the past to release the findings of the report has been stonewalled by leaders of dominant communities who have threatened to revive protests.
The Panchamasalis have threatened to revive its agitation if the Bommai government does not live up to its promise of changing their reservation status by September 15.
A forum of extreme backward classes, who have approached the courts to get the findings of the 2015 caste census, have asked Bommai not to include the Panchamasali into 2A category which would further deprive these voiceless and invisible communities of benefits.
