The Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) report has proposed a greater reservation for other backward classes (OBCs)
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BHAGYA PRAKASH K
The Karnataka government has called for a special cabinet meeting on April 17 to consider the caste census report, which will have implications on the reservations provided to various castes. Experts point out that Karnataka pioneered the caste reservation system with the first one implemented under the 1919 Miller Committee formed in the Princely state of Mysuru. However, concerns have been raised as the Karnataka Congress government fears backlash from the powerful Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities including legislators from the respective castes within the party.
The Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) report has proposed a greater reservation for other backward classes (OBCs). While the OBCs currently enjoy a 32 per cent reservation, this may be elevated to 51 per cent if approved.
Reservation Surge
The total reservation in the State would go up to 85 per cent, including 10 per cent for the economically weaker sections (EWS) and 24 per cent for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs). The survey reportedly puts the backward class population as around 70 per cent of the State population.
Addressing the media on Monday, BJP State President BY Vijayendra questioned CM Siddaramiah, “Despite spending ₹150 crore on the case census during your previous tenures, why wasn’t it accepted and implemented? How many times has this been discussed in the past 20 months? Even the cabinet ministers are opposing this. Let the state government take a final decision on this, and then BJP will give its feedback.”
However, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, speaking at the AICC session in Ahmedabad earlier this month, reaffirmed the party’s call for a nationwide caste census and pledged to nationally implement the model recently adopted in Telangana. He praised the Telangana Congress government for passing legislation that increased reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) to 42 per cent, taking the State’s total reservations beyond the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.
Dissent within
Sandeep Shastri, political analyst and National Coordinator for Lok-Niti Network, noted, “By backing the census, Siddaramaiah has reinforced the Congress high command’s agenda of social justice. Despite the dissenting voices both within and outside Congress, he has put faith in his image as an OBC leader and dismissed claims about the report’s accuracy.”
However, this may lead to another struggle for power, according to political analyst Harish Ramaswamy.
“As per Congress‘ culture, they are supposed to listen to the high command. So when the high command takes a decision, it becomes the party’s decision, barring the party from working against its interests. Therefore, they will have to agree at some point , despite their disagreement.“
He explained that while the census’ data could help with policymaking, from the caste perspective, it may cause panic among people linking it directly to political benefits, fallout, and favours.
“If that is what the caste data tells us, bigger parties should have gained more representation, more power, and eventually the position of chief minister. But pragmatically, this does not happen. The larger the number, the more the voters, sure, but political representation depends on who contests the election and gets the party’s blessings. Elections are controlled because this is a first-past-the-post system.“
The last major effort to draw a caste census was the Havanur Commission, established in 1975, also known as the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, had shed light on the many castes in Karnataka.
Dominant Communities
Vokkaligas and Lingayats were perceived as dominant castes with the most representation in the central government under the Congress-rule and also in Karnataka. Power was centered around these communities that also controlled the political parties.
However, critics point out some weaknesses in the latest report. For example, in the case of Lingayats, it Veerashaivas and Lingayats have ben categorised as seperate communities.
On the other hand, the Vokkaligas were one community with sub-castes under the same umbrella.
“Kurubas and Jenu Kurubas, among others, were communities that moved from one place to another and then merged into one community. These people did not have the benefits, so they started moving towards forming a group. Karnataka had 256 such micro-communities who were later pulled into the OBC category,” Ramaswamy explained.
Places like Dharwad had tribes similar to those of African descent who converted into Scheduled Tribes because of land-owning benefits granted by the government. Some communities converted to Christianity and some to Islam to become minorities, showing the larger Hindu framework was not a monolithic one.
“If you look at any triangle, the bottom is bigger. As you go upward, the positions and power structures give you fewer posts. So competition increases as you go upward. That is happening today. The Lingayats are apprehensive of being broken into smaller groups and therefore, losing representation. Whereas, the OBCs say we have many smaller groups and are the largest in number. SCSTs claim they are the largest in terms of population. Naturally, the competition has built up.”
(With inputs from BL intern Rohan G Das)
Published on April 15, 2025
