The Kerala government will shortly take a call on conducting a socio-economic caste census in the State for updating the list of Other Backward Classes even as it faces the prospect of contempt of court in the Supreme Court and the Kerala High Court for not initiating the process.
The government needs to take a policy decision on holding the SECC, State Backward Classes Minister K. Radhakrishnan said.
A decision will be taken shortly in consultation with the Chief Minister, he said. Regarding the court cases, the State will file affidavits seeking time since a decision on holding the SECC involves a policy decision of the government, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
The Kerala High Court, in June 2020, asked the State government and other stakeholders to finalise the socio-economic study of the Socially and Educationally Backward Class within six months from the date of the judgment. Later, the Supreme Court asked the authorities in September 2020 to complete the process in one year. The petitioners in the case moved contempt-of-court petitions as the deadlines fixed by the court expired.
In 2021, the State sought from the Centre the details of the SECC in 2011, following a writ petition moved in the High Court by a non-governmental organisation, Manavaikyavedhi. The NGO sought caste-based reservation for Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Nairs, and Ambalavasi communities in the State. The Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission Trust, another NGO, had also moved the High Court demanding that the list be updated.
However, the Centre declined the request. Responding to a writ petition in the Supreme Court by the State of Maharashtra seeking SECC details, the Centre had taken a stance that the data collected for the caste census were not accurate and hence, unusable. It had also clarified that the State governments were at liberty to conduct any SECC suiting their requirement. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had also informed the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes that the 2011 caste data cannot be provided to any agency.
The Bihar government recently initiated a similar exercise in the State.
The government may also wait for the view of the ruling coalition, the Left Democratic Front, considering the social and political implications of the decision. It may also seek to evolve a political consensus on the sensitive issue by discussing it at an all-party meeting. The census data would be used to bring new and eligible communities within the ambit of the reservation for OBCs and exclude the ineligible ones. Currently, there are 84 communities on the State OBC list.
