Siddaramaiah urges CM to implement caste census report and submit it before SC
In the backdrop of the Supreme Court order on reservation to other backward classes (OBCs) in local body elections, the Social, Educational and Economic Survey or the caste census conducted by the Backward Classes Commission has assumed importance in Karnataka. In fact, the crucial taluk and zilla panchayat elections could even be put off indefinitely due to court order.
On Sunday, urging the ruling BJP to accept and implement the caste census report immediately, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah, during whose tenure as Chief Minister the census had been conducted, suggested to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to present the report before the Supreme Court.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said: “The judgement by Supreme Court on reservation to OBCs in local body elections has created a blockade to the reservation for OBCs. It is possible to resolve this issue with Social, Educational and Economic Survey conducted by State Backward Classes Commission.”
He said in a release that “the court has said that the States have to formulate OBC reservation policy in local body elections after completing three-pronged test. I strongly believe that the court will accept the extensive door-to-door survey conducted in our State – first in the country.”
He also urged the Chief Minister to convene a meeting of leaders of the Opposition in both the Houses and legal experts immediately to resolve the issue. “Instead of finding court order as a reason to postpone elections, efforts should be made to find a solution,” he said.
He also urged the Chief Minister to convene a meeting of leaders of the Opposition in both the Houses and legal experts immediately to resolve the issue. “Instead of finding court order as a reason to postpone elections, efforts should be made to find a solution,” he said.
The State Government spent about ₹170 crore for the conduct of the census by the backward classes commission, headed by H. Kantharaj, in 2015-2016. However, successive governments, including that of Mr. Siddaramaiah himself, had evaded occasions to accept the report, which is now in cold storage. While unconfirmed leaks from the reports about the population of castes or the government benefits received have been rejected by castes stating that the survey had not been done properly, the survey itself has become a political tool now, especially with several castes demanding change in reservation matrix.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, in his note, said that though political representation was not part of working mandate of the survey, the details of political representation of people of all the castes were collected. The Supreme Court may consider the survey if the State Government highlighted this point, he said, adding that the State Government should reconstitute the committee that had been formed to formulate qualifications to provide political reservation following a different Supreme Court order in 2010.
He said: “The survey has accurate data of political representation of people of all castes and there is no need for separate survey like other States. Karnataka need not panic. Supreme Court has always asked for exhaustive and reliable data in cases related to reservation, and our survey is the answer for the same.”
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the backward classes were denied rightful political representation due to lack of reservation in politics, and it would be against social justice if they again lose their reservation due to Supreme Court order. He also pointed out that Karnataka was the first State to provide reservation to OBCs in zilla and taluk panchayats; it was extended to the nation by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi through the Constitution 73rd and 74th amendments.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the backward classes were denied rightful political representation due to lack of reservation in politics, and it would be against social justice if they again lose their reservation due to Supreme Court order. He also pointed out that Karnataka was the first State to provide reservation to OBCs in zilla and taluk panchayats; it was extended to the nation by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi through the Constitution 73rd and 74th amendments.
