Caste census: Karnataka govt will not take any hasty decision, says D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru | Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday said that the government will not take any hasty decision regarding the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the 'caste census', that was recently tabled before the state cabinet.

He said the cabinet will go through the report and discuss it, and will do justice to all based on the facts, as he also called the statements being made against the report as "political".

The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes' report was placed before the cabinet on Friday, and it will be discussed at a special cabinet meeting scheduled on April 17.

The Commission, 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.

"The CM has spoken about it. I have not yet seen the report as I was visiting Belagavi and Mangaluru yesterday. It has to be discussed in the cabinet. Apparently, the CM has said that it will be discussed in the Assembly too. No one will take any hasty decision," Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters at Doddaballapur near here, he said, "Some may be making political statements about it (caste census), but we will understand the facts and do justice for all."

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he is not aware about what is in the report and hence he wouldn't like to comment on it.

"I don't know, because I have no information about what will be discussed in the cabinet or what is there in the report. If I get the report I can say something. Or if there is any clear decision from the April 17 cabinet meeting, I can react to it," he told reporters here.

According to the survey report, out of a total 5.98 crore citizens covered under the survey that was carried out in 2015, about 70 per cent or 4.16 crore come under various OBC categories, according to official sources.

The Commission has recommended hiking the OBC quota from the current 32 per cent to to 51 per cent, they said.

By giving OBCs a 51 per cent reservation quota, along with the existing 17 per cent for SCs and 7 per cent for STs, it will take the state's total reservation to 75 per cent.

As per the report, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (S/ST) together seem to form the largest social block in the state with their population at 1.52 crore, official sources said.

Though the caste-wise break-up of OBCs is not available from the report yet, Muslims, who alone come under Category-2B of OBC are with a population of 75.25 lakh, while the general category at 29.74 lakh, they said.

Karnataka's two dominant communities -- Vokkaliags and Lingayats -- have been expressing reservations about the survey, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey be conducted.

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

The State Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson H Kantharaju, was tasked with preparing a caste census report. The survey work was completed in 2018 towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister, and the report was finalised by his successor K Jayaprakash Hegde in February 2024.

With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities, the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation.

Earlier, 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 the data be rejected.

All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, which has also expressed its disapproval vis-a-vis the survey and demanded conduct of a fresh survey, is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa. Several Lingayat ministers and MLAs too have raised objections.