Firmly rejecting the charge that caste census would divide the society, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on October 7 said the caste surveys were needed to remove social, economic and political inequities in the society.
When his attention was drawn to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reported opposition to caste census, Mr Siddaramaiah said the economic, social and political status of different castes in the country after 76 years of independence should be known to take up poverty alleviation programmes and ensure equality in the society.
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Caste system prevails in the country. “There was a need to gather data on the status of different castes on social, economic and political scale so that everybody is brought to the mainstream”, he said while responding to queries from reporters at the airport in Mysuru on Saturday.
When asked if the caste census was dividing the society, Mr Siddaramaiah replied with emphatic no. “No, definintely not”, he remarked.
He sought to question Mr Modi’s rhetoric on inclusive growth. Referring to the Prime Minister’s oft-repeated slogan of ‘Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas”, Mr Siddaramaiah said the BJP does not give tickets to Muslims to contest elections and wondered how they can achieve inclusive growth by ignoring the community.
He said the BJP’s actions do not tally with their statements. “Facts are different from their statements”, he said.
With regard to the fate of the caste census conducted in Karnataka during his earlier regime as Chief Minister, Mr Siddaramaiah said former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who became the Chief Minister in 2018, refused to accept the report when the then Chairman of Karnataka’s Permanent Backward Classes Commission Mr Kantharaj came forward to submit it.
“Now, we have a different Chairman. I have told him to submit the report”, he said adding that the present Chairman of the Commission Jayaprakash Hegde was planning to submit the report in November this year.
With regard to the demand for creation of a separate category for most backward classes, Mr Siddaramaiah said the Government cannot create such a separate category without a report from the Commission. “We will look into it after the report [caste census] is submitted”, he said.
Drought
Mr Siddaramaiah, who made it clear that the State was not facing any financial problems to implement the guarantee programmes in view of the drought situation in the State, said the State had sought ₹4,860 crore financial aid from the Centre to tackle the drought situation.
Though crop loss has been reported form 42 lakh hectares across the state, estimating a loss of ₹30,000 crore including the damage to houses, electricity poles, roads and bridges, the State Government’s demand for ₹4,860 crore was based on NDRF norms.
He said the Central team, which has arrived in the State, will tour 11 districts to assess the ground realities and submit a report to the Centre. He said he has instructed the team members to listen to the problems of the local people, besides the Deputy Commissioner and people’s representatives including the MLAs and MPs.
When his attention was drawn to the absence of Cauvery basin districts in their itinerary, Mr Siddaramaiah said the discretion of choosing the areas to tour was left to the Central team.
Mr Siddaramaiah reiterated that there was no proposal to issue new licenses for liquor shops in the State.
When his attention was drawn to Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s reported statement that people cannot be stopped from drinking, Mr Siddaramaiah said Mr Shivakumar has not said that new shops will be allowed. “We will see what is the opinion of the public and decide. According to me, there is no proposal for new licenses for liquor shops”, he said.
