Dakshina Kannada BJP unit wants Karnataka govt to put off Social and Educational Survey until doubts are cleared

As part of the survey, stickers with unique IDs are being affixed to every house, which has led to confusion among the public, says BJP leader Sathish Kumpala

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada district BJP unit has urged the Karnataka government to postpone the proposed Social and Educational Survey (popularly called caste census), scheduled to begin on September 22, until doubts in people’s minds are addressed and proper awareness is created on it.

Dakshina Kannada BJP district president Sathish Kumpala on Wednesday said as part of the survey, stickers with unique IDs are being affixed to every house, which has led to confusion among the public. “The district in-charge Minister should have convened a meeting to clarify the matter and create awareness. However, in Dakshina Kannada, it was not the district in-charge Minister but Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader who chaired the meeting with elected representatives and community leaders. We are left wondering whether Khader is the district in-charge Minister,” he said.

Questioning the urgency behind the survey despite the lack of clarity, Kumpala also objected to the deployment of teachers and ASHA workers as enumerators during the Dasara holidays. “Dasara is an important festival for Hindus. It is not right on the part of the government to engage teachers and workers for survey duty during this time,” he said.

Further, Kumpala demanded that Christian sub-castes be removed from the draft caste list.

MLA D Vedavyasa Kamath alleged that the inclusion of Christian sub-castes in the draft list prepared by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes was part of the government’s “hidden agenda” to encourage conversions and divide Hindus further.

Highlighting loopholes in the proposed survey, he said that while the Bunt community in the region is traditionally recognised as 'Bunts yane Naadavaru', the survey list mentions them separately as either Bunts or Naadavaru. He raised concerns about people from Mangaluru who are working elsewhere in India or abroad, noting that locked houses are being left out of the survey. “Will the survey be completed within 12 days under such circumstances as it will take a minimum of one-and-a-half hours to complete the enumeration of one household?” he said.