The caste census report has created ripples in political circles and communities in Karnataka with the Lingayat Community demanding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the government not to accept the document. The Lingayat community has also warned the CM of statewide agitation if the report is accepted as there are several lapses in the report.
Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde said that the report was prepared based on data collected by 1.60 lakh officials, including 1.33 lakh teachers, under the leadership of respective Deputy Commissioners of the districts across the state in 2014-15. H Kantharaju was the Chairman when the data was collected, and he could not submit the report due to some technical issues, he said.
Karnataka's two dominant communities — Vokkaliags and Lingayats — have expressed reservations about the survey, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey conducted. Not willing to share the highlights of the report as it has been submitted to the government, Hegde rubbished the claims that it is unscientific.
Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said, during the survey many houses were not visited; also there are 103 sub-castes among Veerashaiva-Lingayats, and people have noted their castes separately during the survey and, so, there is a request for a fresh scientific survey.
Minister M B Patil said it is true that there is apprehension, especially among Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, about the caste census, as many of them have given the names of their sub-castes during the survey, and the community's demand is that all the sub-castes should be referred to as "Veerashaiva-Lingayats".
