Now Reading: Karnataka Cabinet Defers Decision on Decade-Old Caste Survey
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Karnataka Cabinet Defers Decision on Decade-Old Caste Survey
The Karnataka Cabinet has deferred a decision on a 2015 Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, with further discussion scheduled for May 2. The survey covered 1.35 crore households and 5.98 crore people, nearly…
The Story in Brief
The Karnataka Cabinet has deferred a decision on a 2015 Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, with further discussion scheduled for May 2. The survey covered 1.35 crore households and 5.98 crore people, nearly 95% of the then projected population. Its findings put backward classes at about 70% of Karnataka’s population. Muslims account for 12.58%, Veerashaiva-Lingayats 11%, Vokkaligas 10.29%, Scheduled Castes 18.2% and Scheduled Tribes 7.1%.
The Hegde Commission has recommended raising backward-class reservations from 32% to 51%, along with a new six-category classification. The socio-economic data has not been released publicly. Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat organisations have rejected the figures as unscientific, citing omissions, sub-caste confusion and the survey’s age. The matter is also before the Karnataka High Court.
The Indian Opinion
Claims that the survey alone will settle Karnataka’s reservation politics are premature. Its population counts matter, but the underlying socio-economic data remains unavailable, and affected communities dispute the methodology. Equally, dismissing the exercise outright avoids testing its evidence. The fair standard is public scrutiny of the full report, followed by a legal review of the proposed 51% quota. Will the released data support that recommendation?
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
