With the Central government holding back the all-important data on castes from its Socio-Economic and Caste Census, Kerala may find out how each of the caste is faring here.
The socio-economic indicators of castes are required to understand the social standing of each caste in society. The caste data is also a key indicator in fixing the reservation quota for Other Backward Communities (OBCs) and other eligible groups in government service.
The Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC) has begun steps for conducting an exclusive socio-economic and caste census in the State. The Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes too declined to entertain the commission’s demand for conducting the survey, which warranted a separate study, sources said.
The commission’s decision to know how each caste is socially faring in Kerala comes at a time when the question of propriety of economic and caste-based reservations is being hotly debated. It was the recent decision of the State government to introduce 10 per cent reservation for the economically poor sections in the forward castes in jobs in all the five Devaswom boards that triggered the discussion.
The KSCBC has already gathered the data of similar exercise held in Karnataka. Since the documents were in Kannada, the commission has engaged people to translate it into English. The commission chairman himself had familiarised with the census process during an interaction with his counterparts there, sources said.
The document becomes all the more important when there is a demand for revising the list of OBCs in the State. Several requests for inclusion and exclusion of various castes in the list, which would have an impact on the reservation for employment in government services, is pending with the commission. The panel has also initiated the process for revising the OBC list in the State, sources said.
Going by the provisions of the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, those OBCs, which are not adequately represented in government services shall be given reservation in appointments or posts.
The caste data is also required for ascertaining the reservation quota of various beneficiary castes in the Central government service. A commission was recently appointed to fix the sub-quota for various castes at the Centre, sources said.
Anthropology wing
The panel has also written to the State government to begin an anthropology department with it so that scientific studies on various castes could be held. Several requests for such studies to determine the castes and related aspects were pending with various agencies, sources said.
