Caste census report in Karnataka recommends increasing BC reservations to 51%

Bengaluru | The caste census report, which was submitted before the Karnataka cabinet, has recommended increasing reservations for Backward Communities from the existing 32 per cent to 51 per cent, government sources said on Saturday.

According to sources, the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, caste census in short, also highlights that the population of BC is 70 per cent.

The report also suggests that 51 per cent reservation should be given to the Backward Communities in educational institutions in the state.

It cited the example of Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand, which are providing 69 and 77 per cent reservations respectively as per the backward class population, the sources said.

According to the survey report, the population of Backward Communities in 1A category is 34,96,638, 1B- 73,92,313, 2A- 77,78,209, 2B- 75,25,880, 3A-- 72,99,577 and the Backward Community in the 3B category is 1,54,37,113, sources claimed.

This way the total population of Other Backward Castes is 4,16,30,153, sources said.

The sources citing the report claimed that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes population is 1,09,29347 and 42,81,289 respectively. The sample survey comprises population of 5,98,14,942.

The survey was initially commissioned by H Kantharaj in 2015 and later Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde completed it and submitted the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in February 2024.