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Siddaramaiah seeks caste census report
He said the socio, economic and educational survey was not conducted “only for one caste”, claiming a hesitancy on the part of the new government to release the findings as they are likely to impact the existing caste equations in the state.
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress Leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah, on Friday, lashed out at the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for not releasing the findings of the 2015 caste census.
He said the socio, economic and educational survey was not conducted “only for one caste”, claiming a hesitancy on the part of the new government to release the findings as they are likely to impact the existing caste equations in the state.
“Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said that Siddaramaiah has got the report written. This is complete nonsense. The report is yet to reach the government. I had directed the then Backward classes department minister Puttaranga Shetty of the previous coalition government to approve the report. I was just (the) leader of (the) coordination committee. The then chief minister HD K opposed the approval. I agreed to avoid any further fight between both our parties,” Siddaramaiah said on Friday.
The statements come at a time when several backward communities and the Opposition are piling pressure on the Bommai government to release the findings of the report to ensure justice to voiceless caste groups in Karnataka.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had commissioned the “Socio-Economic and Education Survey”, better known as caste-census, in 2015 at a cost of around ₹150 crore, employing 1.6 lakh people for 45 days to pose around 55 questions to 1.35 crore households across the state.
Siddaramaiah has also been accused of holding back the findings of the report since his term in office ended in 2018, three years after the report was prepared, allegedly due to pressure from his own partymen belonging to dominant communities.
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.
Several influential seers and pontiffs from caste-specific Mathas or monasteries have threatened to agitate if the Bommai government does not accede to their demands.
Mathas have played an important role in shaping Karnataka’s caste-centric politics and are used as a bargaining chip to get better representation to the community.
Most of the benefits even within these dominant communities are cornered by a few in power, leaving the remaining as vote banks or support systems with little or no benefits other than the name of the community itself.
Requests of at least 36 such small communities remain pending before the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, people aware of the developments said.
“The report was prepared with the help of school teachers. The resources of our nation should be distributed equally and social justice should be achieved. Data is necessary to do this. Hence, we had ordered for the survey to be conducted,” Siddaramaiah said.
Political analysts and observers believe that Siddaramaiah, from the Kuruba community, had commissioned the report to challenge Karnataka’s dominant-caste politics that has been controlled by Lingayats and Vokkaligas, believed to be the two biggest caste groups in the state.
