Grappling with gaps in empirical data on various sub-castes among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Karnataka, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government is likely to commission another survey to ascertain the population of all the SC groups, The Indian Express has learnt. This SC survey may cast a shadow on the socio-economic and educational survey, also known as caste survey, carried out by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC) in 2015-2017 during the first tenure of Siddaramaiah as the CM, whose report was put into a cold storage by succeeding governments cutting across party lines. Its report has not been made public even by the current Siddaramiah government in the wake of backlash from both Vokkaligas and Lingayats – the two most politically-influential communities in the state. Last November, the Siddaramiah government constituted the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission to submit recommendations on internal reservation for the SC communities. The Commission, expected to submit its interim report in a week, may call for a fresh SC survey, top government sources said. The Commission's likely recommendation, sources said, could be based on its assessment that there is a lack of clarity on the population figures of certain SC groups – such as Adi Dravida, Adi Karnataka and Adi Andhra belonging to the SC (left) or the most backward among the SC groups – in the reports of previous government panels such as Justice A J Sadashiva Commission, which submitted its report to the government in 2012. The lack of comprehensive empirical data on all SC groups has hampered the current Congress government's bid to fulfil its key manifesto promise of providing internal reservation to SC sub-castes. The party had made this pledge ahead of the May 2023 Assembly polls in light of the demands raised by various SC groups such as Madigas – also belonging to the SC(Left) – for proper sub-quotas as they charged the more developed SC communities of “cornering” all the reservation benefits. "While the Justice A J Sadashiva Commission pegged the population of Adi Dravida, Adi Karnataka and Adi Andhra along with some other minor SC groups at 24 lakh, the 2011 Census put it at 40 lakh. In some cases, SC families have not mentioned their sub-caste in the survey forms," sources said. If the government goes ahead and provides SC sub-quotas based on the Sadashiva panel's report, the courts may set it aside pointing to its “lack of empirical data”, sources said, justifying the government's rationale to go for a fresh SC survey to collect the data, including the population numbers, of all the Dalit groups. In November 2024, the Siddaramaiah Cabinet decided not to issue any fresh notification for government jobs of any departments until the rollout of the Dalit sub-quotas. On Monday, the state ministers from the SC community held a meeting with Siddaramaiah and Justice Nagamohan Das to discuss the issue. Home Minister G Parameshwara subsequently said the Justice Nagamohan panel's report would be submitted in a week. Earlier, during the budget session of the state Legislature, the Congress's Dalit legislators held their meeting to step up pressure on the party-led government to fulfil the manifesto pledge for the SC internal reservation. Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa said Monday that the government has collected details relating to various schemes meant for the SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs) from almost all the departments. "We will take action (on internal reservation) based on the Supreme Court guidelines," he said, adding that fresh appointments and filling of backlogs in government jobs will not be taken up until the implementation of the SC sub-quotas in the state. On August 1 last year, the Supreme Court Constitution Bench, in a landmark judgment, allowed states to sub-classify the SCs / STs to ensure grant of quota to more backward castes in these groups.
