Congress leaders push for caste enumeration in the general census

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday welcomed the Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the General Census and demanded the Modi government to remove the 50 % cap on reservations and increase it to 68% in line with the quota provided by Tamil Nadu.

“The Centre was not keen on conducting a caste census but good sense has prevailed upon them now. The BJP had been blocking the release of the 2010 Socio-Economic Caste Census conducted by the Karnataka government till now. They had ignored our repeated demand to have a caste census and now want to take credit for it. Also, the budgetary allocation of Rs 575 crore for the nationwide caste census is grossly inadequate as Karnataka alone has spent Rs 165 crore for the statewide survey. The survey should be time-bound and not be reduced to a political gimmick,” said Kharge, while addressing the “Save Constitution” and anti-price rise rally held at Hubballi.

The Congress chief also urged the Centre to act on the three demands of his party – removal of the 50% cap on reservation, implementation of the caste census and Article 15(5) for educational reservation in private institutions.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah, during a press meet in Bengaluru said that the Centre should conduct a “time-bound and full-fledged” social, educational, and economic survey, and remove the cap on reservation to enable a fairer representation of backward communities.

Commenting on Union Ministers Ashwin Vaishnav and Dharmendra Pradhan's statement that the state government's survey was “unscientific”, Siddaramaiah demanded to know what the BJP supporters think of the survey conducted in Bihar. “Does the Constitution say the state governments have no right to conduct a caste or population census? Karnataka has an overall 51% reservation and I urge the Centre to remove the cap on reservation.

Defending the state’s survey, the CM said, “A detailed caste-based survey covering 5.90 crore (93% of the population) people has been carried out in the state. The BJP which calls our survey as unscientific, is endorsing a similar survey ahead of the Bihar elections. This is a political gimmick. The Centre should emulate the Karnataka model and bring in amendments to the Constitution to expand the reservation benefits.”

Citing Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution, Siddaramaiah said that true equality could be achieved through proportional political, educational, and economic representation.

Karnataka gears up for a state Cabinet meeting on May 9, when the government will finalise its stance on the caste census. The chief minister has sought written replies from the cabinet ministers, as many dominant communities have opposed the survey and the cabinet too stands divided on accepting the survey in its current form. 

India