<p class="bodytext">BJP MP Tejasvi Surya’s call to boycott Karnataka’s Social and Educational Survey – denouncing it as a “Siddaramaiah census” and refusing to share his own details – is much more than a mere political posture. This position is at odds with the real purpose of the survey and betrays a deep-seated urban bias. The state government has repeatedly clarified that this is not a caste census in the conventional sense, but a socio-educational survey aimed at generating reliable data on the backwardness of communities. The objective is to identify groups that have not adequately benefited from welfare schemes, and to better target future interventions. Caste, of course, remains an unavoidable reference, but it is a by-product, not the driving purpose. How else can the state know which communities are backward? Compounding the problem, BJP’s state president BY Vijayendra has urged respondents to list themselves simply as “Hindu” rather than specify the caste, even though the survey is not designed to enumerate religion. Such irresponsible and misleading remarks cast doubts on the party’s commitment to social justice.</p>.Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah rebukes BJP leaders over 'boycott caste survey' call.<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka High Court’s directive that participation must be voluntary has been seized by the entitled class as a convenient excuse to justify boycotts. This confusion could have been avoided had the court been guided by the Supreme Court’s verdict in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2020). The apex court held that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are not homogeneous groups, and states can create sub-classifications to ensure fair distribution of reservation benefits. The judgement made it clear that without “quantifiable and demonstrable” data on the relative backwardness of different groups, affirmative action risks becoming monopolised by dominant sub-castes. Just as the Supreme Court insisted on fresh data to ensure equity within SC/ST communities, a comprehensive social and educational survey would give the Karnataka government the empirical data to recalibrate welfare schemes, preventing already empowered groups from cornering benefits at the cost of smaller, poorer castes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government is not without blame; its failure to effectively communicate the aims of the survey has allowed rumours to take root. Far from being divisive, this is an exercise in ensuring social justice. If the marginalised are misled into boycotting, it will be at their own peril, as their backwardness will not be captured. The survey must not be caricatured into identity politics or communal battle lines. Let the survey speak, so that neglected communities may finally claim their rightful place in public policy. To boycott it through elite gatekeeping is to silence the very voices that most need to be heard.</p>
<p class="bodytext">BJP MP Tejasvi Surya’s call to boycott Karnataka’s Social and Educational Survey – denouncing it as a “Siddaramaiah census” and refusing to share his own details – is much more than a mere political posture. This position is at odds with the real purpose of the survey and betrays a deep-seated urban bias. The state government has repeatedly clarified that this is not a caste census in the conventional sense, but a socio-educational survey aimed at generating reliable data on the backwardness of communities. The objective is to identify groups that have not adequately benefited from welfare schemes, and to better target future interventions. Caste, of course, remains an unavoidable reference, but it is a by-product, not the driving purpose. How else can the state know which communities are backward? Compounding the problem, BJP’s state president BY Vijayendra has urged respondents to list themselves simply as “Hindu” rather than specify the caste, even though the survey is not designed to enumerate religion. Such irresponsible and misleading remarks cast doubts on the party’s commitment to social justice.</p>.Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah rebukes BJP leaders over 'boycott caste survey' call.<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka High Court’s directive that participation must be voluntary has been seized by the entitled class as a convenient excuse to justify boycotts. This confusion could have been avoided had the court been guided by the Supreme Court’s verdict in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2020). The apex court held that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are not homogeneous groups, and states can create sub-classifications to ensure fair distribution of reservation benefits. The judgement made it clear that without “quantifiable and demonstrable” data on the relative backwardness of different groups, affirmative action risks becoming monopolised by dominant sub-castes. Just as the Supreme Court insisted on fresh data to ensure equity within SC/ST communities, a comprehensive social and educational survey would give the Karnataka government the empirical data to recalibrate welfare schemes, preventing already empowered groups from cornering benefits at the cost of smaller, poorer castes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government is not without blame; its failure to effectively communicate the aims of the survey has allowed rumours to take root. Far from being divisive, this is an exercise in ensuring social justice. If the marginalised are misled into boycotting, it will be at their own peril, as their backwardness will not be captured. The survey must not be caricatured into identity politics or communal battle lines. Let the survey speak, so that neglected communities may finally claim their rightful place in public policy. To boycott it through elite gatekeeping is to silence the very voices that most need to be heard.</p>
