Former Chairman of Backward Classes Commission C.S. Dwarkanath on Sunday said that although there were nearly 1,400 castes in the State, only 400 had found their way in the categories of castes and communities listed by the government.
He was speaking at a seminar on “Social and administrative classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Reservation” organised by the Udupi district unit of Karnataka State Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, here. Mr. Dwarkanath said many very backward and weaker castes were simply not known to the government. Many of these castes were living in remote areas. Although the Government had appointed several commissions on listing castes, it had not come to the notice of them either.
People in the villages did not know to which caste they belonged to. Some of them simply identified with the dominant caste in their villages. Many of the weaker castes and communities were suffering from identity crisis. Ministers and government officials should have good knowledge of castes, he said.
He said it was essential to save the Constitution and parliamentary democracy in the country. The civil society led by social activist Anna Hazare posed a danger to both the Constitution and parliamentary democracy, Mr. he said. Councillor Anandi, Karkala Town Municipal Council president Pratima Mohan, zilla panchayat member Mallika Ashok, taluk panchayat member Jyoti, and Sadhu Belthangady were felicitated.
Special Officer of SC/ST unit of Mangalore University M.P. Umeshchandra, among others, were present.
