Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said there was no opposition to the caste survey or Social and Educational Survey report during a special meeting of the state cabinet convened to discuss it on Thursday, 17 April.
He also denied that there were heated arguments among the ministers and said no one spoke with their voices raised, as reported by a section of the media.
“Yesterday, it [caste survey report] was discussed in the cabinet, it was incomplete, and it has been posted for another day. The subject will be discussed in the next cabinet. No one has opposed it,” Siddaramaiah said.
Deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar repeated this while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru separately. He said, “We shared thoughts, that’s all. Speaking in raised voices or arguments, nothing of that sort happened. Suggestions were given. Other than that nothing was decided.”
The cabinet discussed the parameters used for the survey, and sought more information and technical details from senior officials, law and parliament affairs minister H.K. Patil said on Thursday after the meeting. The cabinet will now discuss the report on 2 May.
The state cabinet had accepted the 50-volume report on 11 April, nearly a decade after the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes completed the survey.
Among other things, the report proposes an increase in reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) from the existing 32 per cent to 51 per cent. This would result in total reservation in the state going up to 85 per cent, including 10 per cent for the economically weaker sections (EWS) and 24 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
According to sources, after some ministers expressed reservations about the report, Siddaramaiah asked everyone to give their opinion either in writing or verbally.
Various communities, especially Karnataka’s land-owning and politically dominant Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats, have expressed “strong reservations” and demanded that a fresh survey be conducted.
With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities, the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and some sections of OBCs among others, demanding for it to be made public and implemented.
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