This report was not arbitrarily prepared and it is not the last word'

Home minister G Parameshwara, a prominent Dalit leader in Karnataka Congress, said that the caste census report recently submitted to the state cabinet as a "scientific" document while acknowledging that there could be errors.

- Naheed Ataulla

BENGALURU: In an interview with the HT, he spoke about certain groups unhappy with the findings of caste census, accusation of minority appeasement and his anguish over Dalit leaders not getting prominence in Karnataka. Edited excerpts.

You have said the caste census report is the most scientific one. However, why is it being opposed by some quarters?

Some communities were expecting their numbers to be high and now feel they have been undercounted. Enumeration of 95% of the population was done in the socio-economic and educational survey and only 5% were left out. The survey was done scientifically using 51 indicators which gave details about the professions, activities and other aspects of the communities. This was not a report which was arbitrarily prepared and this report is not the last word. If there's a feeling that it was done unscientifically, there is scope for corrections.

The terms of reference for the survey was to study the social and economic status and by using the 51 parameters, data of each caste was collected. This is something similar to the Rajinder Sachar committee report on the conditions of Muslims submitted in 2006. In India, we have too many castes and sub-castes.

The caste census report has looked into smaller communities which are bracketed in the reservation category with the forward communities and the latter taking all the benefits.

What about the argument of the data being a decade old?

The data in the report is an indicator. During every census, there will be a 15% escalation in the population. Same yardstick can be applied here too.

Since you are convinced that the data is accurate, why is the same data not being used now to provide internal reservation for the scheduled castes instead of going for a fresh survey?