Bengaluru, Oct 3: The freshly released caste census data of Bihar has to a certain extent mounted on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led congress of Karnataka to formally release the date of caste census it had conducted during its previous tenure nearly a decade ago.
Officially labelled socio-economic survey, Siddaramaiah had commissioned the census in 2015, during his first stint as CM, with the aim of ensuring reservation benefits for castes in proportion to their population. Entrusted with the responsibility, the backward classes commission then headed by Justice Kantharaj completed the census in 2018.
The report, which cost the exchequer a staggering Rs 262 crore, has been gathering dust since for various reasons, including political. Cases are also pending in courts.
Ironically, the delay in accepting the report comes at a time when former AICC president and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been going hammer and tongs after the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for not releasing the findings of a similar exercise carried out across the country.
Successive state governments — there have been two besides the current government — have refused to accept the report on the pretext that it was not signed and validated by the then member secretary of the commission. The permanent backward classes Act makes the member secretary’s validation mandatory.
But the real reason, politicians say, is strong opposition by politically dominant communities like Lingayats and Vokkaligas who believe the findings will end their political hegemony. Alleged key findings of the report, that were leaked just before the 2018 assembly elections, challenged the popular political narrative that Lingayats and Vokkaligas are numerically dominant castes in the state.
The leaked reports shows Scheduled Castes form the largest community at 19% followed by Muslims (16%). It pegged the population of Lingayats and Vokkaligas at 14% and 11% — way lower than current estimates. While Lingayats claim they form 20% of the state’s population, Vokkaligas say they account for 17%. Both communities — besides Brahmins — have opposed the findings.
“The opposition comes from the perceived fear of losing political preference, be it in distribution of tickets for assembly and Lok Sabha polls or cabinet berths both communities enjoyed all these years,” said a former BJP minister.
After the alleged leak in 2018, the Siddaramaiah gov- ernment is said to have got the commission to delay submitting the report since assembly elections were around the corner. The JD(S)-Congress coalition and the BJP government that followed also dragged their feet on accepting the report since it was seen as politically imprudent.
But after the Congress government returned to office with a thumping majority, Siddaramaiah, in June this year, announced his government will accept the report. “Caste census will help the government make appropriate decisions on facilities including the quantum of reservation to be provided to different castes and communities,” Siddaramaiah had said then.
But nothing has happened since and there have been rumblings in the state Congress unit over the intended move.
When contacted, chairpersons of the backward classes commission Jayaprakash Hegde said the report will be submitted to the government soon. “We are collating the data and we will submit it to the government at the earliest,” he said.
Backward classes welfare minister Shivraj Tangadagi said the government is committed to make the findings public and it will do so soon.
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