The caste census report in Karnataka, a Congress-ruled state, presented in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, recommends increasing reservation in education and employment for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the state from 32 per cent to 51 per cent.
Implementation of the recommendation would raise total reservation in the state to 85 per cent, after adding 10 per cent for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and 24 per cent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST).
The commission has also advised the Siddaramaiah government to implement horizontal reservation within employment quotas.
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The panel’s proposal is based on the findings of a recent caste survey, which estimated the population of backward classes in the state at nearly 70 per cent.
Referring to this data, the report contends that increasing reservation in proportion to the population is necessary for equitable distribution of government benefits and opportunities.
“Although the population of backward classes has increased by 69.6 per cent from the survey, the present commission has observed that even half of the population in the state of Karnataka does not have the reservation. If reservation is not given to backward classes on the basis of population, government facilities will not be distributed equally,” the panel said.
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The Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the caste census, was submitted in February 2024 but was presented before the Karnataka Cabinet on Friday. The state cabinet will discuss the report in a special meeting on April 17 before taking a decision on adopting the recommendations.
In 2014, during his first tenure as CM, Siddaramaiah had ordered the Karnataka Socio-Economic and Educational Census, and a committee headed by then Backward Classes Commission chairman, H Kantharaju, conducted a survey at a cost of around Rs 169 crore, but its report was put in cold storage.
Opposition parties, the BJP and JD(S), have opposed the implementation of the report. Major caste groups—the Lingayats and Vokkaligas—alleged the report has done injustice to them in terms of their population representation.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka assembly, R Ashoka, said the caste census report prepared by the Siddaramaiah government was not scientific.
“The people conducting the caste census did not visit every household. This report was prepared under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s instructions. Since it has political motives, no one will accept it. I, too, am saying that a caste census should be conducted. But this report was designed to sow discord among castes for someone’s benefit,” Ashoka said.
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Siddaramaiah said the caste census was conducted scientifically and his government would implement it.
“We have accepted the caste census report and will certainly implement it in the coming days. There is no doubt regarding this,” he said.