Karnataka govt won't take hasty decision on caste census report: Shivakumar

The Karnataka government will not take any hasty decision regarding the caste census report, deputy chief minister said on Friday, 11 April.

He said this while responding to media queries on Friday evening at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

When asked about discussions on the caste census report in the cabinet meeting, Shivakumar said: "The law minister opened the report, but no MLA or minister has seen it. We will have a detailed discussion on the matter."

Asked about opposition by ministers, he said: "There is no opposition from any minister regarding the caste census. No one has disregarded it."

Shivakumar's statements assume significance as he had earlier opined that the government should consider the concerns of the Vokkaliga community regarding the caste census report. Shivakumar hails from Vokkaliga community.

The Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities have maintained that the caste census report is flawed.

The Karnataka caste census report was presented at a Cabinet meeting which was chaired by chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. However, the state government will take a decision on the recommendations of the report on 17 April.

Confirming the development to the media, stated in Bengaluru that the caste census report was presented during the cabinet meeting on Friday.

However, the recommendations of the report are not yet known.

A few ministers are currently reviewing the recommendations, and once they have done so, the matter will be discussed in the upcoming Cabinet meeting scheduled for 17 April at 4 pm.

"We will discuss the matter in the Cabinet meeting and take a decision," CM Siddaramaiah said.

Sources said that the report was submitted in more than 46 volumes and the data was also submitted in 2 CDs to the government on various aspects of the caste survey.

In 2014, Siddaramaiah (during his first tenure as the chief minister) ordered the Karnataka Socio-Economic and Educational Census.

A committee headed by the then Backward Classes Commission chairman, H. Kantharaju, did the survey at a cost of around Rs 169 crore. The report was ready by 2016; it was, however, put in cold storage by subsequent governments.

The Congress and JD-S coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai also kept the report pending.

In 2020, the Karnataka government headed by the BJP appointed Jayaprakash Hegde as the Commission chief, but the report was not made public. Hegde submitted the final report to the Siddaramaiah government on 29 February 2024.

Sources stated that Muslims have been projected as the second-largest population group after SCs/STs in the census report.

Opposition parties, the BJP and JD-S, have opposed the implementation of the report. Communities such as the Lingayats and Vokkaligas have alleged that the report has done injustice to them in terms of their population representation.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R. Ashoka said on Friday that the caste census report prepared by the Siddaramaiah government was not scientific.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on the issue, Ashoka said: "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."

Siddaramaiah, on 18 February, declared that the caste census was conducted scientifically and that his government will implement its report without any doubt.

"Our government supports the caste census. We have accepted the caste census report and will certainly implement it in the coming days. There is no need for any doubt regarding this," he assured.