Maze facing Karnataka's caste counting exercise

Karnataka has been in the grip of a massive panic attack, especially among caste associations and their leaders, mathadhishas (pontiffs of monastic orders with caste affiliations), and Opposition politicians.

- Janaki Nair

Prompted by the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, which is concluding this weekend, every jati (caste) and upa-jati (sub-caste) is advising its flock on how to fill — or not fill — the 60-question form.

This resurvey was loudly demanded by two of Karnataka’s most dominant castes, the Vokkaligas and Lingayats. They had opposed the findings of the Kantharaj Commission of 2015, which were withheld until 2025 for many reasons, calling into question its scientificity. But a “scientific truth” in the reckoning of the dominant castes can only be a truth which affirms their demographic dominance. In the 2015 survey, the Big Two seemed to account for about 11% each in the state's population. No surprise, too, that the Commission found that the SCs, STs, and Kurubas, among the most dominated caste groups, constituted at least 50% of the population.

The scientificity was challenged on the grounds that the report was 10 years old. And in some cases, the response had been that “no enumerator came to my door”. The survey, which covered over 10 million households, is exactly what it says — a survey, not a census, which sampled a substantial population systematically. Yet the claims of the Vokkaligas and Lingayats (that they constitute 14% and 16-17%, respectively, and not the survey's 11% each) were extrapolations of the 1931 census, the last time caste was counted.

In short, science and objectivity quietly disappeared; statistics seem acceptable only if they align with one’s claim to dominance. Given the Big Two's presence — not only in the economic, social, and educational spheres, but also in politics — the resurvey was announced.