Confederation questions rise in castes under SC/ST communities in Kantaraj commission report

Mangaluru: Confederation of SCs and STs Organisation President Lolaksha has questioned the increase in castes under SC/ST communities as per the Backward Classes Commission led by Kantaraju in the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey popularly called caste census.

He alleged that the commission led by Kantharaj has systematically conspired to take away the constitutional rights of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the state. 

As per the report, the Commission’s caste survey has found 180 Scheduled Castes and 105 Scheduled Tribes in the state. 

According to Article 341 and its clause (1) of the Constitution of India, for any caste to be recognised as a Scheduled Caste, the President of India must issue a notification in the Gazette of India. This must be done after consulting the Governor of the respective state or the Lieutenant Governor in the case of Union Territories. The notification must clearly limit such recognition to specific states or Union Territories. 

Only the castes listed in such Presidential notifications are considered as Scheduled Castes. Any others are not and Backward Classes Commission has no power to include few more castes under SC/ST communities, he said.

Furthermore, under Article 341(2), only the Parliament has the authority to either include or exclude any caste or group from the list of Scheduled Castes through legislation. Even Parliament cannot modify the notification issued under Article 341(1) without passing a law, he said. 

In the current Karnataka state, only 101 castes are officially notified as Scheduled Castes. Therefore, any caste not included in this list cannot be considered a Scheduled Caste. The Supreme Court of India has previously ruled that recognising or treating any caste not included in the official list as a Scheduled Caste is unconstitutional and an attack on the Constitution itself, said Lolaksha.

Backward classes commission members recently had claimed that a few upper class had taken SC caste certificates. In such a scenario what are the departments of prosecution, home and, social department doing when SC certificates are issued to non-SCs, he asked.

It has come to light that some backward or extremely backward castes are trying to illegally obtain Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe certificates. The commission’s alleged involvement in enabling this is being viewed as an anti-Dalit and unconstitutional conspiracy.

Similarly, Articles 342(1) and 342(2) of the Constitution detail the rules for Scheduled Tribes. At present, 49 castes/tribes are officially notified as Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka. The claim that the Kantharaj Commission found 105 Scheduled Tribes in the state is being seen as the first step in a systematic conspiracy to undermine the constitutional rights of existing Scheduled Tribes. This is anti-constitutional, and if necessary, a criminal case may be filed against the Chairman and Secretary of the Commission, he said.

Consultation on internal reservation

Confederation General Secretary Kanthappa said a consultative meeting has been organised to discuss the demand for internal reservation among Scheduled Castes and to deliberate its pros and cons at Hotel Srinivas in Mangaluru on April 20 at 10 am.

Leaders from various communities, social activists, intellectuals, and public policy experts will participate in the discussion, where important insights and exchanges will take place on caste and reservation policy, he added.