PITFALLS OF THE CASTE COUNT

THE CONGRESS ENTHUSIASM FOR A CASTE CENSUS NOTWITHSTANDING, THE SIDDARAMAIAH GOVERNMENT'S TABLING OF THE KARNATAKA SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL SURVEY 2015 IS NOW A POLITICAL HOT POTATO

- Ajay Sukumaran

Along-gestating item on Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's policy wishlist finally made it to the agenda of a cabinet meeting on April 17. The consternation among the Congress's own legislators, the aggravated tones in community debates in the state, perhaps beyond, all that had been building up. For, on the table was the 306-page report of the Karnataka Social and Educational Survey (KSES) 2015—the first caste census of recent times, predating that of Bihar and methodologically more comprehensive, to see the light of day. The report gives a detailed break-up of the caste composition of Karnataka's population and, based on a weighted assessment of socio-economic, educational and employment parameters, recommends a hike in reservation quota for the Backward Classes, a demographic segment now confirmed as accounting for about 70 per cent.