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The Print
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Siddaramaiah cites 1995 law to justify Congress high command's decision to scrap 2015 caste survey
He also said that the socio-economic and educational survey , better known as the caste survey, was over a decade old and needed to be re-enumerated even though his core support base of Backward Classes groups have been pressuring him to release the data. 'Already 10 years are over (and) according to section 11, clause 1 of the Backward Classes Act 1995, it is very clear that after the 10 years (sic) period, a new survey is to be conducted,' Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Thursday. Bengaluru: A day after the Congress tried to mask its decision to scrap the findings of the 2015 caste survey, Karnataka government Thursday cited clauses from the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, to justify its high command's directive to do away with the report. 'In 10 years, the population has gone up, socio-economic and educational changes have happened. In the Backward Classes Commission Act, it is clearly mentioned that after 10 years a new survey needs to be undertaken,' he added. He was addressing the media after a special cabinet session was convened in Bengaluru to discuss the caste survey. On Tuesday, the Congress high command tried to find middle ground between Siddaramaiah and members of his cabinet opposed to the decision to release the findings of the 2015 survey. Political analysts and observers ThePrint spoke to suggested this decision reflects the party leadership's careful manoeuvring to reconcile differing–and confrontational–viewpoints within Karnataka, effectively diverting attention from the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede and prevent the Centre from taking credit for initiating the nationwide caste census. Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal said Tuesday that the party accepts the 2015 caste survey in principle but also called for re-enumeration. The decision was viewed as a setback to Siddaramaiah who has advocated for long to address the dominant status enjoyed by groups like Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Insistence on conducting the entire exercise again is also perceived as a political maneuver for upstage Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement for a nationwide caste census. Also Read: How redoing Karnataka 'caste census' weakens CM Siddaramaiah without strengthening Shivakumar 'New survey to be conducted in 90 days' In 2015, during his first term as chief minister, Siddaramaiah formed a single-person panel comprising then Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSBCC) chairperson H. Kantharaj, which initiated work on the caste survey on 11 April that year. It completed the survey on 30 May, 2015—having put forth 54 questions to a total of 5.98 crore people or 94.17 percent of the state's population. But the report, which cost roughly Rs 190 crores, was never accepted as political leaders and seers from dominant communities are believed to have pressured the government to shelve it. Siddaramaiah did not accept the findings and the Congress was ousted from power three years later in 2018. He also did not pursue its coalition partner, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), to do the same in 2019. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not want to accept the report since its then chief minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, was leading the agitation to scrap the findings. 'Let H.D. Kumaraswamy, B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashoka call for a press conference and announce they are in favour of the earlier caste census. They are making a lot of comments, we will respond to them in the Assembly session. The media must highlight contradictions in the stand of Opposition over caste census. They are trying to politicise it,' Shivakumar said Thursday. In February last year, Siddaramaiah accepted the report but did not open the files until earlier this year. When he did do it, and some of the findings were leaked, protests by so-called dominant communities intensified as the population numbers of these groups were shown to be significantly lower than what was projected earlier. Caste plays a very important role in Karnataka's politics and society. BJP is believed to have the backing of Lingayats while JD(S) depends on the Vokkaligas. The Congress under Siddaramaiah has been backed by AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits). Caste trumps party affiliations as Siddaramaiah's own cabinet ministers, including Shivakumar, M.B. Patil, S.S. Mallikarjun, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Eshwar Khandre and several others opposed the release of the report. Siddaramaiah is from the backward Kuruba community and his support base took aim at Shivakumar every time the latter would try to broach the unwritten pact that he would replace the former halfway through the term. Siddaramaiah camp further complicated matters for the party by promoting a narrative that replacing a chief minister from Backward Classes with Shivakumar, who is from a dominant community, could be politically unfavorable. 'Siddaramaiah and Congress used the Backward Classes for their political agenda and then sacrificed the latter. Siddaramaiah claims that he became CM with the support of AHINDA but has today shown that he will cheat the backward classes to remain in power,' R. Raghu Kautilya, president of Karnataka BJP's OBC morcha said Thursday. Shivakumar said the Congress was carrying out the survey again to further its objective of achieving social justice and not for the sake of politics. The state government said the new survey will be completed in 90 days of it being commissioned. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Karnataka protests 'ban' on its Totapuri mangoes entering AP, Naidu govt says 'rescue your own farmers'
The Hindu
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Caste re-enumeration in three months will be Herculean task: Experts
A new full-fledged survey of Karnataka's population to identify backward classes and later classify them into categories to provide reservation, as announced by the State government, could take months to be undertaken and for the report to be prepared, said experts. While the State government's decision to accept the 2015 Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes 'in principle' and conduct a new survey has been termed 'logic defying' by some, the Cabinet meeting on Thursday is likely to spell out a proper road map. Sources in the Chief Minister's Office said that the H. Kantharaj Commission's survey conducted at a cost of ₹165 crore and the report submitted by K. Jayaprakash Hegde Commission based on the survey was as good as 'junked.' 'The government is hopeful of completing the survey in three months the way the Telangana government completed its survey,' sources said. However, those who have worked in the Backward Classes Commission, especially during the 2015 survey, expressed doubts about the possibility of completion within 90 days. 'Preparatory work for the survey includes identifying and drawing a list of castes and sub castes, preparing the questionnaire, bringing up a handbook, drawing up house list/ block list, appointment and training of enumerators, among many other things, and this takes at least six to eight months.' Bigger population At the time of the new survey, the projected population of Karnataka will be nearly 7 crore for which at least 1.5 lakh enumerators are required, it is estimated. In 2015, 5.98 crore people or about 95% of the total population was enumerated by about 1.35 lakh personnel. 'The enumerators are normally teachers. The Right to Education Act, 2009, prohibits the use of teachers for any other work during the academic year. They can be used only during holidays. In such a scenario, the work cannot be undertaken in the next few months,' sources said. 'If the survey is hurried, it could end up making mistakes and get into legal trouble,' an expert, formerly with the commission, warned. More parameters Another source, who was earlier in the commission, said that the survey work has to commence from a very basic level as those opposing the 2015 survey had cast aspersions on almost everything. 'The earlier two commissions focused on the provisions of Article 15 (4) of the Constitution on education and social backwardness. They did not touch provisions of Article 16 (4) for adequate representation. Without study on adequate representation, how will you understand the benefits that the castes have received in public education and employment avenues? This has to be included in terms of reference for the new survey.' Unless adequate representation is studied, the reclassification of caste is not scientific,' sources added.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
The chaos of Karnataka's caste survey
The story so far: On April 11, a nearly 10-year-old Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (popularly called the Caste Census) prepared by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes was dusted off and accepted by the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet. Two days prior, the listing of the Caste Census in the Cabinet's agenda for discussion had surprised many. For the Chief Minister had on multiple occasions announced a discussion only to rescind it as political implications were believed to be far-reaching and difficult to handle. The data was collected by the commission through government-appointed enumerators in April-May 2015 from about 1.35 crore households covering a population of 5.98 crores — nearly 95% of the then projected population of 6.35 crores (Census 2011 population figure for Karnataka is 6.11 crores). While the survey was conducted by H. Kantharaj Commission, the survey report, data and recommendations were submitted by K. Jayaprakash Hegde's Commission in 2024. Though the survey findings and recommendations were ready by late 2017, Mr. Kantharaj could not submit the report since the member-secretary had not signed it. Subsequently, the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government and the BJP government that succeeded it also did not receive the report. As population figures became clear after the Cabinet received the data, causing tremors in the political landscape, the fault line between the politically dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities and other backward class communities became clear. The Cabinet met again on April 17 to discuss the recommendation, but did not decide on the matter. While further debate has been deferred again for May 2, no clear decision on the commission's recommendation is expected. Meanwhile, the issue has reached the doors of the Karnataka High Court. What are the major findings? The vexed survey is being keenly watched for population figures of castes/communities for political reasons, though its goal had been to provide insights into 'backwardness' that the government could use to develop programmes aimed at uplifting such communities. The survey has pegged the total population of backward classes in the State to be about 70%. Muslims are the single largest bloc with about 75.25 lakhs or 12.58% of the total population, followed by Veerashaiva-Lingayats, a dominant and politically strong land-owning community in North and Central Karnataka, with 66.35 lakhs or about 11% of the population. The population of Vokkaligas, a dominant and politically strong land-owning community in the Old Mysore region, has been put at 61.58 lakhs or about 10.29% of the State's population. The Scheduled Castes constitute 18.2% or about 1.09 crore of the population, and the Scheduled Tribes number at 7.1% or 43.81 lakhs. Together, both constitute 24.1% of the population. The general category comprising Brahmins, Arya Vaishya, Mudaliars, Nagartharu and a section of Jains are about 29.74 lakhs or about 4.9% of the population. What has the Hegde Commission recommended? The commission has recommended an increase in the total reservation matrix for backward classes from the current 32% to 51%. Based on the weightage given to communities on socio-economic and educational parameters, it has recommended re-classification of castes; Instead of the current five categories, it has recommended six. It has proposed the removal of exemption from creamy layer policy for castes in Category 1, which are the 'most backward'. Kurubas, the politically stronger and perceived to be educationally forward among the backward class communities, have been moved from 'more backward' to 'most backward' category, along with a few other castes. Kurubas constitute 43.72 lakh or about 7.31% of the population. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah belongs to the Kuruba community. The socio-economic and educational data of the communities are yet to be released. Only the methodology used in the survey, the questionnaire, population data and recommendations for reclassification have been provided to the Cabinet Ministers so far. The government is yet to officially release the report for public discussion. How have the politically dominant communities reacted? The dominant communities have rejected the findings of the report outright, stating that they were 'unscientific'. Both Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha and All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha have sought another survey, questioning the authenticity of the population data. Citing data from previous commissions, they claimed that Vokkaligas should be around 12% to 14% and Veerashaiva-Lingayats around 17% to 22% of the population. They said that many households from their communities have been left out of the survey, and that there was confusion in enumerating members of sub-castes. The data is too old to be accepted was another complaint. Cabinet Ministers from these communities have already met separately and closed ranks to register their protest. Moves are afoot for joint meetings of representatives from both communities to plan protests together. Legal avenues are also being explored. Other communities, including Brahmins, Christians and Yadavas/Gollas, have also stated that their population figures have been under-reported. How has the commission justified its survey? The commission said that the survey was scientific and unbiased, and carried out using government machinery. Nearly 5% of the population was left out due to reasons such as migration, being absent at home during enumeration and lack of cooperation. While enumeration in rural areas was 99% to 100%, cities had a lower percentage, with only Bengaluru hitting 85%, the commission said, noting that even the national Census leaves out 3% of the population. Given the geography and population size, some are bound to be left out, it said. Are there other issues in the report? Experts have been critical of the removal of exemption from creamy layer policy to the Category 1 castes that are labelled as the 'most backward' among the backward classes. Among the castes listed in 'most backward' communities are about 50 nomadic and semi-nomadic communities that have neither found representation in government jobs nor the political realm, with literacy levels still lower than 50%. Eyebrows were raised over moving the Kuruba community from 'more backward' to 'most backward' category. The community has for long been perceived to have taken reservation benefits in education and public employment. They have had good representation in politics too. The report does not provide insights into 'adequate representation' that the courts have relied upon to justify the reclassification of categories. The recommendation of enhanced reservation for OBCs to 51% breaches the Supreme Court's 50% ceiling for reservation. With 24% reservation for SC/ST and 10% EWS (yet to be implemented in Karnataka), the reservation matrix will reach 85%, which could invite legal trouble. Why has the survey come up for discussion now? Considered a political minefield, the survey was in cold storage for nearly a decade. The Congress, in its manifesto ahead of 2023 Assembly elections, had promised to accept the findings. Ruling dispensations have been under pressure after Bihar announced its caste census findings. Neighbouring Telangana has gone ahead with enhanced OBC reservation. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's nudge during the recently-concluded Congress session at Ahmedabad is believed to have spurred the Congress government here to accept the report. Party insiders also believe that the survey was brought up for discussion by Mr. Siddaramaiah to consolidate his position as leader of backward classes and 'checkmate' Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is said to be waiting on the wings to succeed him. What happens next? The State Cabinet is set to discuss the report again on May 2. The discussion so far has been only around the procedures in data collection. Public Works Minister Satish Jharkiholi has indicated that it could be a year before the report is accepted. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil has said that the Cabinet is no closer to a discussion on the survey report. Speculations are rife over a Cabinet sub-committee being set up to discuss the issue before it is brought to the Cabinet again at a later date.
The Hindu
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Caste census: Dominant castes' real fear is over political power dynamics at the grassroots
The release of the population data of castes/sub-castes in Karnataka, as part of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (popularly called caste census), has generated much political heat. Though the dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities have termed the survey 'unscientific' and have called for a new survey, the real underlying fact is the fear among the communities over a possible change in the political landscape and power dynamics between castes at the local level. Political dominance in most places depends on the sway that certain castes hold locally. The numbers that have now been published are likely to allow the other backward classes (OBCs) to challenge the dominance of a community, which the land-owning Vokkaliga or Veerashaiva-Lingayats normally hold. In ticket distribution 'Feudal structure at the grassroots can get shaken. If other castes come together, these traditional structures will also come under pressure. Political parties may also start looking at the numbers carefully and distribute the ticket,' said P.R. Ramesh, former Congress MLC. 'A big political implication from the published data can be that the parties could try social engineering and justice in the distribution of ticket.' The 2015 survey by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes puts the percentage of the Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities, which have so far dominated the State's politics, of the total population in the State to be 10.29 and 11, respectively, far below their claimed figure of about 13% to 15% and 17% to 22%, respectively. In the current classification of the backward classes, barring about 24 castes among the about 197 castes/550 sub-castes classified as backward class in the State, the rest have had no political representation so far in the Assembly or Parliament through elections, commission sources said. Though many castes get represented in local bodies, there are still castes that have not had any representation at any level. No money, no numbers 'It has been observed that many of the castes do not have adequate population or money power. Parties do not distribute the ticket to leaders from such castes, which results in a lack of representation. Leadership has also not evolved in such communities,' said K.N. Lingappa, a member of H. Kantharaj commission, which conducted the survey. Acknowledging the fear of power structure altering on the ground, Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha secretary H.M. Renuka Prasanna said, 'We also fear that the same population data could be used for reservation in local bodies. Already, with 50% reservation in local bodies, efforts are made to reserve the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community-dominated wards to other communities and keep the wards where the caste population is not dominant in the general category. This will reduce the chances of candidates from the community winning elections. Our political representation will come down drastically.' Delimitation exercise He also blamed the delimitation exercise, after which the State went to the polls in 2008, for reducing the number of Veerashaiva-Lingayat legislators in the Assembly. 'As many as 24 constituencies that Lingayat legislators would win were reserved, including five each in Raichur and Ballari districts. Today, in Ballari, which produced several Lingayat leaders, Lingayats cannot win even one seat,' he claimed. The fear of both Vokkaligas and Lingayats remains common, and a Vokkaliga leader in the Janata Dal (Secular) said that once the number of winnable constituencies gets reduced, it automatically influences the power structure. 'In local bodies, the position of president and vice-president is also reserved. If the number of winnable wards is reduced, the total number of elected representatives from the community also gets reduced. The claim on the president or vice-president posts becomes difficult.' The political manoeuvres become difficult at the local level if the number of other castes are also big, he said.
