The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes is currently engaged in recategorisation of communities based on socio-economic and educational background data compiled during the socio-economic census, which could significantly change the existing pattern of reservation under Category 1, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, according to sources in the government.
The report is expected to be submitted to the government by mid-June. Speculation is rife in political circles that the Kuruba community, to which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah belongs, among other castes, might end up with a bigger share in reservation in the process of reclassification.
Sources in the commission admitted that printing of the basic data, running to 1,200 pages, had been completed. Reclassification will be a separate exercise. There was a plan to submit the report to the government to mark the completion of four years in office. But, because of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s pre-scheduled programmes, it could not be done.
The report was slated for submission on August 20, 2016, and the official deadlines fixed by the government has lapsed six times over.
Meanwhile, “leaked” data from the census report has created a flutter in political circles by suggesting that the numerical strength of castes could be vastly different from what is traditionally assumed.
However, Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Chairperson H. Kantharaj, said: “The content, said to have been leaked, is not authentic. We will submit the report to the government, at the latest, by June 15, and there should be no speculation till then.”
The census, the first such attempt after 1931, covered 13.5 million households by employing 1,60,000 people encompassing 50 broad parameters.
