Seeking the release of the caste census report conducted during the previous government, members of various backward classes staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Gadag on Wednesday.
Leading the agitation, State president of Karnataka Rajya Hindulida Jatigala Okkuta K.M. Ramachandrappa urged the State Government to immediately release the report of the caste census done by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission, then headed by Chairman H. Kantharaj.
Addressing the protestors, Mr. Ramachandrappa said that because of the oppression of powerful upper class communities, communities that had remained socially and educationally backward had suffered a lot. And, in the last three years, the State Government had neglected the welfare of the backward communities on the pretext of economic crisis, he said.
He urged the State Government to immediately take steps to resume welfare schemes meant for backward classes and not to provide reservation to communities that were economically, socially and educationally forward.
The okkuta will also urge the government to immediately abolish the high-level committee led by Subhash Adi which had been constituted to look into demands by various communities for revising the reservation percentage.
The former chairman of Karnataka Sheep and Wool Development Corporation Y.N. Goudar said that the agitation had become inevitable as social justice was being ignored and steps are being taken to reach benefits to the powerful. He said that the agitation was not against any community but for seeking fulfilment of their rights.
The former MLC M.D. Lakshminarayan said that there were 1,471 sub-castes in the 102 castes listed under Category 2A. “In the State, 52% of the population, i.e., 3.25 crore people, belong to backward classes. The government has given grants of ₹1,000 crore to two powerful communities and ₹500 crore each to 16 caste-based development corporations. Similarly, a backward classes development corporation should be set up for 38 communities with a grant of ₹500 crore,” he said.
Mr. Lakshminarayan emphasised that the agitation will continue till the caste census report given by Mr. Kantharaj is released. “If our demands are not met, we will lay a siege to the Vidhana Soudha in the coming days,” he said.
Leaders of 38 backward communities, including Nagaraj Yadav, Ennigere Ramachandrayya, R. Ramakrishna, S.P. Seshadri, Ravikumar, Fakirappa Hebasur and Vasanna Kuradagi, led the agitation.
Earlier, they took out a protest march after garlanding the statue of Shivaji Maharaj on Hubballi Road in Gadag. Along with protestors, various folk troupes were part of the protest march that concluded at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The protestors also paid tributes to actor Puneeth Rajkumar by observing silence, before the start of the protest meeting.
