CASTE SURVEY REPORT WILL BE TABLED IN K’TAKA CABINET, SAYS CM
Karnataka’s much awaited socio-economic and education survey report, popularly known as the caste survey report, will be put before the state cabinet, chief minister Siddaramaiah has said.
The caste survey report was submitted to the chief minister in February by the chairman of state’s backward classes commission, K Jayaprakash Hegde, but was put on hold in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
“I have not seen the report yet. It has to be placed before the cabinet, which we will do,” Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The survey, which was commissioned by Siddaramaiah in 2015 during his first tenure as chief minister (2013 to 2018), covered over 13 million households comprising over 59 million residents across the state.
The survey was mired in controversies even before its report was submitted as a portion of its leaked report allegedly disputed the numerical strength of Lingayats and Vokkaligas — the dominant castes in the southern state. The exact figures will be known after the report is made public by the government.
Days before the survey report was submitted to the chief minister, a schism had surfaced within the Karnataka’s ruling Congress regarding the release of the survey findings, with Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar being at odds over the matter. While the CM had said he would take a call after receiving the report, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief and a prominent leader from the Vokkaliga community, had advocated for a re-conduct of the survey.