Another survey, another row

SES 2.0 is taking off in Karnataka amid opposition from BJP and dominant communities. Implementing its recommendations would be the real test

If the leaked recommendations of the first Social and Education Survey (SES) kicked off a huge controversy, forcing the Congress government to junk it, the new survey has courted trouble even before it began.

More than external pressure, the divisions within the state Congress leadership, including in the Cabinet, are said to be behind the trouble faced by the Siddaramaiah government regarding both the SES 1.0 and SES 2.0.

Simply put, the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities were
not keen on the survey being taken up. They were shocked by the findings of the Kantharaj Commission, which said their population was less than that of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Muslims.

The new SES will begin in Karnataka on Monday (September 22). To continue till October 7, the survey was ordered as the Congress government refused to accept the old one initiated by its previous dispensation.

While the last SES led to a war of words after the report was completed, the latest one is the result of some 40-odd Christian castes with Hindu names being part of the current SES questionnaire.

While the BJP, as expected, capitalised on the issue, ministers from influential communities attempted to force the chief minister to defer the survey. But Siddaramaiah would have none of it, and asserted that the survey would go ahead as per schedule.

Perhaps, the minister backing the chief minister felt that if the survey was postponed, it could take place only by April 2026; and that no one would know the political picture in the state at that time, given the talk over a possible change of the guard by November.

Once the leaked recommendations of the first survey conducted by Justice R Kantharaj were out, the two communities called it unscientific and demanded its rejection, saying thousands of households had been left out of the survey. Another criticism was that the survey had removed several castes from the exercise.

The new survey

The new SES—costing Rs 420 crore (as against Rs 165 crore of the first SES) and covering an estimated 7 crore people—has released a handbook listing out 1,561 castes besides more than 101 under SCs and over 50 under Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The BJP has strongly criticised the state government for inclusion of Christian castes with Hindu caste names, saying this has been done mainly to get reservation benefits.

The saffron party, and some Congress ministers, demanded that these 40-odd Christian castes should be deleted, adding that caste survey should be deferred so that loopholes could be corrected. The list includes castes such as Billava Christian, Kuruba Christian, Brahmana Christian, Devanga Christian, Ediga Christian, Golla Christian, Jangama Christian etc.

However, it seems the Backward Classes Commission that is undertaking the survey told the government that it won’t delete the Christian caste names since the previous survey too contained them.

Interestingly, similar Hindu caste names are also listed among Jains. However, this has not triggered any controversy. A massive dispute within the powerful Lingayat community has revived against the backdrop of the survey. But this has nothing to do with the government.

A group of Lingayat associations, including Lingayat Mathadheesha Federation, Global Lingayat Mahasabha and National Basava Dal, is up in arms against the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha for calling upon the community followers to register themselves as `Veerashaiva Lingayath’ in the caste column.

The Mahasabha is led by some powerful politicians such as minister Eshwar Khandre, veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa and is backed by former CM and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa. The group wants only ‘Lingayat’ to be mentioned as a caste.  

The group is also aiming for a separate religion tag for Lingayats. Veerashaiva-Lingayats also want to be a part of it but the group is opposed to this.

The reason: Lingayats are the followers of 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara while Veerashaivas consider themselves Hindus, worship Lord Shiva, and follow Hindu rituals.

Veerashaivas, the group says, are only one among the 100-plus sub-castes falling under the broader Lingayat community. Veerashaivas are opposed to considering only Lingayat as a religion.

The survey handbook does not mention Lingayat as a religion. It contains a list of religions that includes Hindu, Islam, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, and Parsi. Interestingly, it has other options such as ‘Atheist’, ‘Not Known’, ‘Refuse to Disclose’, and ‘Others’.

There is also an argument why the SES is undertaking the survey since the forthcoming general census will also conduct a caste census. Another question is: why should the SES include the SCs, since the Nagamohan Das panel has completed the survey regarding the population of the SCs for the purpose of internal reservation in the state?

The answer: while both are only headcounts, the SES is a survey to know the educational and social background of the entire population of the state, which will help future governments in framing policies and programmes.   

Will the survey have any bearing on the state Congress politics? Will it leave the CM stronger than before or weaker? It depends on the findings of the exercise. The tabulation and resultant findings may take time. The commission will also have to make recommendations suggesting the reservation formula.

If the survey findings turn out to be similar to the last SES, the dominant communities may have a go at Siddaramaiah while the OBC-Dalit-Minority group may back him.

With the field survey, only half the work would be over. The real test is in implementing its findings and recommendations.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.