BJP Demands Karnataka Govt Clarify Stance on ₹450 Crore Caste Survey Report
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called upon the Congress-led Karnataka government to disclose its position on the Karnataka Social and Educational Survey, commonly referred to as the 'caste survey', and to table the report in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the state legislature.
Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday, BJP state general secretary and MLA V. Sunil Kumar urged the government to schedule a debate on the report. 'We want to know the contents of the report that has been prepared by spending more than ₹450 crore of taxpayers' money. We are ready for debating the issue,' he said.
Mr. Sunil Kumar accused the Congress government of following 'double standards' on the matter. He noted that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who commissioned the survey, often spoke about social justice and welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). However, Mr. Sunil Kumar pointed out that the Governor's address to the state legislature at that time made no mention of the Backward Classes Commission, which was preparing the report. Similarly, the state budget presented by Mr. Siddaramaiah did not reference the survey. The BJP leader questioned how budgetary programmes could be formulated without data on the socio-economic and educational status of communities.
Mr. Sunil Kumar further alleged that the Congress government uses the name of OBCs whenever it faces trouble but later 'dumps' them. He highlighted that Mr. Siddaramaiah received the caste survey report in a hurry, yet the government has not announced its stand or revealed the report's contents. He also reminded that a similar report was earlier shelved by the Congress government, and speculated that the current Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, might also set aside this report.
The survey, prepared at a significant cost to the exchequer, is expected to provide detailed data on the caste demographics of Karnataka. The Congress government has not yet responded to the BJP's demand.
