Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D Ok Shivakumar on Sunday acknowledged that the federal government won’t rush into making any selections relating to the long-awaited Socio-Financial and Academic Survey report, generally known as the caste census. His remarks come within the backdrop of rising political debate following the report’s latest tabling earlier than the state cupboard.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. (PTI)
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The contentious report, ready by the Karnataka State Fee for Backward Courses, was submitted to the cupboard final Friday. An in depth dialogue on its findings has been scheduled for a particular cupboard assembly on April 17. Shivakumar emphasised that each one points of the report might be fastidiously examined and guaranteed that any choice can be rooted in information and equity. He additionally dismissed the criticisms across the report as politically motivated.
“I haven’t gone through the report yet as I was in Belagavi and Mangaluru. The Chief Minister has already said it will be deliberated in the cabinet, and potentially in the Assembly as well. No decision will be taken in haste,” he mentioned, chatting with reporters in Doddaballapur.
Shivakumar additionally underlined the federal government’s intention to deal with the difficulty with sensitivity, acknowledging that varied statements being made had been pushed by political motives. “Let’s understand the data first and then ensure justice to all communities,” he added.
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Congress nationwide president Mallikarjun Kharge additionally avoided commenting, citing lack of know-how. “I have not seen the report and don’t know what the cabinet is going to discuss. I’ll react only once there is clarity after the April 17 meeting,” he mentioned.
In line with authorities sources acquainted with the contents of the survey, the 2015 train lined roughly 5.98 crore individuals. Of those, about 70 %—or 4.16 crore—are categorized beneath Different Backward Courses (OBCs). The Fee has reportedly really useful growing the OBC reservation quota from 32 % to 51 %.
If carried out, this may increase Karnataka’s complete reservation to 75 %, factoring within the present 17 % for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and seven % for Scheduled Tribes (STs). The survey pegs the SC/ST inhabitants at 1.52 crore, making them the one largest social group within the state.
Although the detailed caste-wise classification of OBCs stays undisclosed, sources say Muslims beneath Class 2B alone comprise 75.25 lakh individuals. In distinction, the overall (unreserved) class accounts for less than 29.74 lakh.
Nevertheless, the report has sparked sharp opposition from Karnataka’s two politically dominant communities — the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats. Each teams have dismissed the survey as “flawed and unscientific” and are demanding {that a} contemporary census be carried out.
The present controversy traces its origins again to 2015, when the then Congress-led authorities beneath Siddaramaiah initiated the survey. The information assortment was overseen by the State Backward Courses Fee led by H Kantharaju. Though the fieldwork concluded in 2018, the ultimate report was solely accomplished in February 2024 beneath the management of his successor, Ok Jayaprakash Hegde.
The opposition from Vokkaligas and Lingayats poses a big problem for the Congress authorities, notably given the political clout each communities wield. Shivakumar, himself a Vokkaliga and the Karnataka Congress chief, had earlier joined different ministers in signing a memorandum to the Chief Minister urging that the report be scrapped.
In the meantime, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha — the apex physique representing the Veerashaiva-Lingayat neighborhood — has additionally rejected the findings. The Mahasabha is headed by senior Congress MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, and several other Lingayat ministers and legislators have echoed comparable sentiments.
(With PTI inputs)