JOIN USThe can of worms called caste census
The Kuruba community has intensified its demand to be categorised under Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Valmikis want a higher share in reservation for STs and Brahmins are persuading the government to ensure the 10% Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota.
Amid all this, the government is now confronted with the controversial issue of the caste census. Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has threatened to launch a statewide agitation in coordination with Karnataka State Backward Castes Federation if the ruling BJP failed to make the caste census data public.
The caste census, officially the Social and Educational Survey 2015, was commissioned by the then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government. The census, on which the state government has spent about Rs 167 crore, was the first since 1931. The report is ready and is currently with the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission.
Siddaramaiah’s current demand has found support in his political arch-rival, BJP’s K S Eshwarappa. “The census covers all communities and religions. It will give us an understanding of the social status of all communities. Hence, it is important to make it public,” Eshwarappa, the rural development & panchayat raj minister told DH. Both Siddaramaiah and Eshwarappa are Kurubas.
However, Eshwarappa was quick to point out: “The report was ready during Siddaramaiah’s tenure. Later, the JD(S)-Congress coalition government did not act on it. It is interesting that Siddaramaiah is blaming BJP for not making the findings of the report public.”
Ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, a part of the report was “leaked”. The alleged findings threatened to overthrow the traditional perception of numerical strength of various castes especially, among Lingayat, Vokkaliga and Kuruba communities.
It is said that the Congress government did not want to risk publicising the findings ahead of the polls. Later, the JD(S)-Congress coalition government also did not pursue it.
Political analyst D Umapathy said suppression of the caste census only showed the insecurities of upper caste politics. “Publishing the report doesn’t suit the political strategy of any ruling party. Siddaramaiah himself had an opportunity to publish it during his tenure, but didn’t do so,” he said.
In a similar line of thought, former chairperson of Karnataka Backward Classes Commission C S Dwarakanath pointed out the need for the data to be made public in order to do justice to vulnerable communities.
“It has to be published and we need to discuss it in detail. Only then will vulnerable communities get justice. Otherwise, the narrative will be limited to dominant communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eshwarappa might have recently announced in a public event that the government was keen on making the data public, but there has been no explicit commitment to it by the ruling party. In December 2019, the Planning and Statistics Department petitioned the government to grant access to ‘some information’ collected in the census “for the purpose of Sustainable Development Goal indicators”. However, the Cabinet denied access to the census findings.
The government is yet to even reconstitute the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, after the tenure of its previous members came to an end. Until this is done, the report will stay with the Commission, without reaching the government for further action.