'New enumeration is necessary': Fresh caste survey in Karnataka; CM Siddaramaiah sets 90-day deadline

NEW DELHI: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the government will conduct a fresh caste survey after concerns were flagged by several stakeholders.After meeting the Congress high command in Delhi, Siddaramaiah said that a new enumeration was needed as the last survey was conducted in 2015-16.

He claimed that the new survey will be completed within 90 days."Discussions were held regarding the caste census. This was brought up as some organisations, religious heads, and even a few ministers have raised concerns. The report submitted on the caste census has been accepted in principle. There is an agreement that a caste enumeration should be conducted. We have also agreed to this," Karnataka CM said."However, we will conduct a fresh survey.

Since the last enumeration was done in 2015-16, there is an opinion that a new enumeration is necessary. Just as we are conducting surveys for Scheduled Castes, we will carry out another enumeration. It was discussed that this survey should be completed within 90 days," he added.This comes after the Congress high command summoned Shivkumar and chief minister Siddharamaiah to Delhi over the continued outrage over the June 4 Bengaluru stampede, which killed 11 RCB fan.

"The high command has advised the CM and me to ensure that everyone is heard as far as the caste survey is concerned," Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said."We will give fresh opportunities to everyone who felt they were left out in the earlier caste survey. The state cabinet will discuss this, plan and then ensure justice to all," he added.Earlier in the day, KC Venugopal, after meeting Siddharamaiah and Shivkumar, stated that some sections had certain apprehensions about the caste census data."Rahul ji, CM of Karnataka, PCC chief of Karnataka and state in-charge met today. The issue related to the caste census report to be taken up in a special cabinet meeting in Karnataka on 12th June was discussed. Congress thinks that whatever the Karnataka government has done on the caste census has to be agreed to in principle," Venugopal said."But there are some apprehensions by some sections about the data. The Congress party has suggested that the Karnataka government re-enumerate within a stipulated time.

We also discussed the current political situation and the recent unfortunate incident in Bengaluru. PCC President briefed the party leadership on the incident and the action taken by the state government," he added.The caste census report submitted to the Karnataka cabinet had recommended increasing reservations for Backward Communities from the existing 32% to 51%.The recommendation is based on the findings of the socio-economic and educational survey, also known as the caste census, which highlights that Backward Communities make up nearly 70% of the state's population.The final report was submitted to chief minister Siddaramaiah in February 2024.The survey has faced opposition from various community groups, including dissenting voices within the ruling Congress party.While some leaders and organisations representing Dalits and OBC groups supported the survey's publication, citing the Rs 160 crore of public funds spent on it, others continued to oppose its implementation.