Caste census report likely to be tabled next week, says CM Siddaramaiah

New Delhi/Bengaluru, Jan 15 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the 'caste census', will not be placed before the state cabinet on January 16 and is likely to be taken up next week.

He said that after discussions in the cabinet and considering everyone's opinion, the government will decide on the next course of action.

"We had planned to table it (tomorrow), but we will do it in a week, in the next cabinet. It won't happen tomorrow," Siddaramaiah told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked whether this delay was due to opposition from certain communities, he said, "It has not yet been discussed in the cabinet, so there has been no opposition. The report is not open to the public at all. I don’t know what is in it. These discussions are based on speculations." "No numbers have come out (from the report). After discussing it in the cabinet and taking everyone's opinion, we will decide what to do," he added.

Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, under its then Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde, had submitted the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 29 last year, amid objections raised by certain sections of society and voices against it from within the ruling Congress.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara in Bengaluru stressed that the caste census contents should be made public.

"It was decided that the sealed cover (of the report) will be opened before the cabinet, otherwise, it may lead to a leakage of information... whether there will be a discussion on it or not, I cannot speak about it now. Once opened, at least abstract information will be known to us," Parameshwara told reporters.

To a question on opposition from certain dominant sections to the report and the implementation of its recommendations, he said the government had spent Rs 160 crore of taxpayers' money on the report, and it should at least be made public. Taking action based on it is secondary.

"Taking action based on it is left to the discretion of the government, which will ultimately decide. But at least the information from the report, which was prepared by spending Rs 160 crore, should come out. There is a demand that the content of the report be made public," he added.

Karnataka's two dominant communities—Vokkaligas and Lingayats—have expressed reservations about the survey, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded it be rejected and a fresh survey conducted.

The commission, headed by Jayaprakash Hegde, had said the report was prepared based on data collected by 1.6 lakh officials, including 1.33 lakh teachers under the leadership of respective Deputy Commissioners of the districts across the state in 2014-15 when H Kantharaju was the Chairman.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had commissioned the survey in 2015.

The state Backward Classes Commission, under its then-chairperson Kantharaju, was tasked with preparing the caste census report.

The survey work was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister. However, the findings of the survey, in the form of a report, were never made public thereafter.

With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities, the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, potentially setting the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and OBCs, among others, demanding that it be made public.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president and a Vokkaliga, was a signatory, along with a couple of other ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister earlier, requesting that the report and data be rejected.

The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, which has also expressed disapproval of the survey and demanded a fresh survey, is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa.

Several Lingayat ministers and MLAs have also raised objections.

According to some reports, the findings of the survey allegedly contradict the "traditional perception" regarding the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue. PTI KSU SSK ROH