Karnataka puts caste survey data in cold storage Premium

Karnataka’s caste census has not been accepted because of political compulsions

The survey, conducted by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission and popularly called the caste census, has been caught in a political crossfire for over five years now. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The publication of the caste survey data by the Bihar government has had a ripple effect in Karnataka, with the focus now on the Congress government’s move to accept and release the State’s socio-economic and educational survey report that was finalised in 2018.

The survey, conducted by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission and popularly called the caste census, has been caught in a political crossfire for over five years now. The Veerashaiva/Lingayats and Vokkaligas (the land-owning and politically powerful communities that have for decades held a grip on power in the State) insist that the results not be published, while a large number of backward communities, without political representation so far, want it to see the light of the day.

If published, the survey outcome could alter the power equations in Karnataka besides impacting the backward classes reservation matrix. It is estimated that about 200 of the most backward communities, that have had no political representation so far, could benefit from the move. With the term of the commission’s chairman ending in November, the report is expected to be submitted soon.

Conducted in 2015, a first since the last census held in 1931, the survey has not been submitted to the government since the report was finalised in 2018. Successive governments, including the previous Congress government led by Siddaramaiah during whose term the census was conducted, have dithered on accepting the report fearing a political backlash from the Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva/ Lingayats. Of the 23 Karnataka Chief Ministers, 16 have been from the two communities, and only five, including the incumbent Chief Minister, have belonged to Other Backward Classes.

A selective leak of data from the census revealed that the population of Lingayats and Vokkaligas stood at 14% and 11%, respectively, as opposed to the general perception that it is higher. It was feared that if published and authenticated, this data could possibly reduce the influence of these groups in the political sphere.

Previous narrative

An earlier narrative stated that the report could not be submitted to the previous Congress government as the commission’s secretary had not affixed his signature. Hence it had become clear that the government, which had asked for the report, did not want to head into the 2018 Assembly elections by antagonising the two communities.

Representatives from the two communities have termed the ₹162 crore-worth census exercise unscientific and unreliable. They claim that the questionnaires were “misleading” and “aimed at dividing the communities into subsects to deliberately bring down numbers.”

Interestingly, Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva/Lingayats also figure in the OBC list, though their inclusion has been a contested issue. In the late 1970s, Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs introduced the OBC reservation in which Vokkaligas found a place based on the L.G. Havanur Commission report. In subsequent decades, though the T. Venkataswamy Commission did not include the two communities in the OBC list, the Janata government headed by Ramakrishna Hegde drew a separate list adding the communities to it in 1986. In 1994, the Congress government headed by M. Veerappa Moily also included both these communities in the backward classes reservation list despite the O. Chinnappaa Reddy Commission dropping them from the list in 1988.

Call for results

However, those favouring the publication of the new report have pointed out that the higher population narrative set by the two communities was based on the projected population from 1931.

They argue that the current list of backward classes was last drawn up in 1994, and requires re-categorisation based on the survey outcome. The commission needs to review the list, remove communities that have become ineligible, and add those eligible once in 10 years — an exercise not undertaken in three decades.

Though Mr. Siddaramaiah has publicly asserted the need for caste census data for better representation and poverty alleviation, political compulsions may eventually prevail. Government sources indicate that the report could go into cold storage at least until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are over.