Caste census: Siddaramaiah says report likely to come up for discussion in next week’s Cabinet meet

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clarifies that the caste census report will be discussed in next week's Cabinet meeting.

Clarifying that the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) will not be discussed in the Cabinet meeting this Thursday but will be taken up in next week’s meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said there was a need for a discussion on the caste census report considering canards being spread about its content.

“The opposition to the caste census is unnecessary when the statistics in the report have not come into the public domain. There are only rumours about it. The census report would be discussed and a suitable decision taken at next week’s Cabinet meeting,” the Chief Minister told reporters in Delhi. AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala is learnt to have supported the caste census discussion in the recent meeting of leaders at KPCC office-bearers and Ministers’ meeting.

Meanwhile, upping the ante, Home Minister G. Parameshwara told presspersons in Bengaluru that while the census details needed to be published, it was left to the government to implement the recommendations. “The caste census report, which is in a sealed cover, should be opened at the Cabinet meeting. Otherwise, there are chances that the information could get leaked.” Stating that the government decision was final, he said, “The government has spent ₹160 crore on it. Should not the public know the details of the report?”

The caste census report prepared by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes based on a door-to-door survey conducted in 2015-2016 is a vexed issue, as leaked data, the authenticity of which is not known, has ruffled the dominant Veerashiava-Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities as their numbers are shown to be less than what was believed. The two communities that vie with each other for power in the State, have now come closer on the issue and are likely to mount a joint struggle against the caste census report.

‘Add caste data to general census’

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Thinkers’ Forum has said the report prepared by the backward classes commission headed by H. Kantharaj and submitted to the government by the K. Jayaprakash Hegde commission has already become old. “Though the earlier Siddaramaiah-led government asked for the survey in 2015, a first among the States in India, the nearly 10-year-old data does not reflect the population and has become irrelevant. This is because the Kantharaj commission could not submit the report to the government in 2018 and the subsequent governments did not make efforts to receive it,” forum president B.S. Shivanna told presspersons here. In the light of opposition to the caste census report, he said it should be given to an expert committee to study and provide its opinion within a timeframe.

Urging the State government to pass a resolution in the ensuing legislature session to ask the Centre to collect caste details along with data to be collected as part of the general census, Mr. Shivanna said, “The last caste census was conducted in 1931. The collection of fresh data along with general census data would help in addressing problems. We will wait till the end of the legislature session in March to see if the resolution is passed. Otherwise, we will start a jatha and invite like-minded legislators from across the political spectrum to join.”