CM Siddaramaiah received the report of the social and educational survey during the climax phase of the leadership change in the state. Arriving at the Vidhana Soudha, Siddaramaiah received the report submitted by the commission chairman Madhusudhan R Naik.
Earlier, Jayaprakash Hegde had submitted a report. However, there was a lot of opposition to this. It was alleged that the report was unscientific. Also, the Swamijis of influential communities had opposed the report. In this context, a re-survey was ordered. Now the survey report has been accepted.
Siddaramaiah has sent a message to the non-Hind community by accepting the report when he was about to resign from the post of CM. However, the current curiosity is to what extent this report will be implemented.
How was the journey of the caste census report?
During 2013-2018, when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister for the first time, this survey was conducted under the leadership of H. Kantaraj, the then Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission. This is not a caste survey, but a social and educational survey. The survey was conducted across the state in 2015.
In this survey, about 1.3 lakh government employees visited every house and collected information. The state government had spent an estimated Rs 160 crore on this survey. However, the report prepared by the Kantaraj Commission was later not accepted by the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. The BJP government that came after it also did not accept the report.
When Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister for the second time in 2023, the new Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, K. Jayaprakash Hegde, had prepared a revised final report based on the data of the Kantaraj report. This report was officially submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 29, 2024.
According to the information revealed in this report, the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is in the first place in the state. Later, it was said that Muslims have emerged as the second largest community. Also, there were elements that the population of other backward classes including backward classes, shepherds and Idigas is also significant.
What is the purpose?
The purpose of this report is to shed light on the exact social, educational and economic status of each caste in the state. Also, its purpose is to provide social justice to the socially, economically and educationally deprived lower caste community.
Opposition to the report
The caste census report faced widespread opposition. Upper caste Swamijis and politicians opposed it. This created a huge storm in state politics. Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Vokkaliga organizations completely rejected the report. There were allegations that their population was deliberately understated and that the survey was not conducted scientifically.
In this context, a re-survey was ordered. The report has been prepared under the leadership of Madhusudhan R. Naik, Chairman of the Permanent Backward Classes Commission. Now CM Siddaramaiah has accepted the report. But this report needs to be implemented. After Siddaramaiah’s resignation, the question is whether the next Chief Minister will implement this report.
There is a lot of curiosity about what DK Shivakumar’s stance will be if he becomes the CM. Thus, Siddaramaiah is only sending a message by accepting the report in the last period of his term in office. Apart from this, the question is also arising as to what action will be taken to implement the report.
