Siddaramaiah Cabinet Delays Decision on KSBCC Report
The Siddaramaiah Cabinet has once again postponed a decision on the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC) report on the socio-economic and educational caste survey report. The Congress-led government deferred the decision to facilitate more extensive discussions among ministers on the issue.
Law Minister H K Patil said, "We had a discussion again on the report of the caste survey and many ministers offered their advice to the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah). More opinions are expected and some information was presented by the Minister for Welfare of Backward Classes. There will be further discussions in the next Cabinet meeting."
The KSBCC submitted a report to the Siddaramaiah government on the state-wide social and educational survey of castes conducted in 2015. The sealed envelope of the report was opened only on April 11 in a Cabinet meeting.
The matter was placed before the Cabinet for further action on the report and its data. However, only about 12 ministers have given their opinions over the caste survey report so far. The Congress’s OBC leaders are pushing for the government to accept the report, indicating that 70% of the state population belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Resistance from dominant communities like Lingayats and Vokkaligas to the caste survey report has been strong. They have opposed the report on the grounds that it was "unscientific" and has not counted their numbers correctly. However, the April 30 announcement by the BJP-led central government of its proposal to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming population Census is expected to bring down their resistance.
The KSBCC report has recommended an increase in reservation for the OBC groups from the existing 32% to 51% in proportion to their population, thereby taking the overall quota for the backward communities to 69% — including 18% for Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) — and the total reservation to 79% which includes 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
The All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s president Mallikarjun Kharge recently said that "The Union government must remove the present reservation cap of 50% and include the SCs/STs/OBCs and EWS in the revised reservations."
