Karnataka govt's caste survey report to be released by January 31
With general elections just months away, caste mathematics acquire new proportions, and Siddaramaiah is not holding back
With general election just months away, it's a tough fight for votes in Karnataka between the Congress and the BJP, and the latest weapon is a caste survey.
Regardless of the strong opposition from the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said his government will accept the highly controversial Socio-Educational Survey, popularly referred to as 'caste census'.
Speaking at a convention of oppressed communities in Chitradurga, Siddaramaiah said on Sunday (January 28) there was opposition to the survey, but “we will definitely accept the Kantharaj Commission report”.
Speaking to The Federal, Jayaprakash Hegde, current chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC), said: “The recommendations or report of the socio-educational survey commissioned by Siddaramaiah during his first tenure as chief minister (2013-18) will be submitted by month end.”
AHINDA demand
To counter the pressure from the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) held a massive convention at Chitradurga in central Karnataka to pressurise the ruling Congress to accept the Kantharaj Commission report in letter and spirit, without any alteration. They cautioned the government against amending the report drafted by the commission.
The convention of Dalits, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Tribes, nomadic communities and minorities, is being viewed as a kind of counter to the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Lingayata Mahasabha Convention that was held in Davangere recently.
A senior Congress OBC leader said: “Sunday’s Chitradurga convention is aimed at sending a strong message to the dominant Lingayat Vokkaliga community that the AHINDA ( Alpasankhyataru (minorities), Hindulidavaru (Backward Classes)and Dalits) force is completely behind Siddaramaiah in accepting and implementing the caste census."
Need for survey
The OBC leaders in Karnataka are arguing that there is an urgent need for the state government to accept the Kantharaj Commission report, as the Supreme Court has time and again expressed its reservation over the lack of official data on the socio-economic and education status of various communities.
The Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah had commissioned a socio-educational survey, which is being ‘politically’ referred to as a caste census. The government had spent a whopping sum of ₹170 crore to assess the socio-educational status of the population in Karnataka. The Commission was then headed by H Kantharaj.
Social revolution
According to Kantharaj, the former KSCBC chairman, the report involved a historical and mammoth 40-day crucial exercise conducted employing over 1.60 lakh personnel. The exercise can well be described as a kind of social revolution in the country.
The Commission conducted this survey in 2015 and the report was compiled by 2019. The BJP government in the state refused to accept the report. As Kantharaj’s term expired, he handed over the report to the member secretary – the official representative of the government.
Refuting the allegations that there is immense political pressure on him to submit the report, Jayaprakash Hegde said that the government directed him to submit his report by extending his term. “My term will end on January 31 and a report will be submitted as desired by the government, before my term ends,” he added.
Full-fledged report
When asked whether the report to be submitted to the government will be an ‘interim’ or a full-fledged report, Jayaprakash Hegde clarified that “it will be a full-fledged report. "There is no question of not submitting the report, as recommendations are ready and the report is getting printed," he added.
Jayaprakash Hegde refused to refer to the report as either Kantharaj Commission’s report or the Jayaprakash Hegde Commission report.
“It is a report prepared by Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes and it is up to the government to discuss the report in the state cabinet and then present the same in the Assembly session,” he pointed out.
Internal quota for SC communities
Siddaramaiah’s initiatives such as the recommendation to the Centre to amend the Constitution for allowing internal quota among SC communities and declaring 12th century revolutionary social reformer Basaveshwara (Basavanna) as cultural icon of Karnataka, are being viewed as attempts by the Congress to counter the BJP.
The BJP is riding high on the Ayodhya Ram Mandir opening and strongly playing the Hindutva and Ram card in the state.
On the internal quota issue, Minister for Social Welfare, H C Mahadevappa, argued: “States cannot tinker with reservation matrix, unless Article 341 (3) is inserted through an amendment.”
Further, he asserted that they have recommended to the Centre to amend the article. “Parliament is the supreme body,” he pointed out.
Basava as cultural icon of Karnataka
JagadishShettar deserting the Congress and rejoining BJP forced the Congress to revisit all its pending initiatives. The move to declare Basavanna as a cultural icon of Karnataka is seen as a masterstroke by the Congress to win the hearts of the Lingayat community, which claims to be the ‘backbone’ of the BJP’s vote bank.
This move is akin to seeking to give separate religion status to Lingayats in the previous Congress tenure.
Many saints of the Lingayat and Veerashaiva communities including, Dr Panditharadhya Shivacharya Swamiji of Sanehalli, Basavajaya Mrutyunjaya Swamiji of Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha of Koodalasangama, national vice-president of Akhila Bharath Veerashaiva Lingayata Mahasabha, Dr Prabhakara Kore have welcomed the decision of the Congress to declare Basavanna as a cultural icon of Karnataka.
“It is a welcome move by Siddaramaiah, who gave the order to display Basavanna portraits in all government offices in his previous tenure. Siddaramaiah created history of sorts,” said Basava Mruthyunjaya Swamiji.