Caste census to determine economic status of communities

BANGALORE: Nine years after it was mooted, Karnataka will have a caste census done to determine the economic status of each community.

Siddaramaiah as deputy chief minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government had provided Rs two crore in the budget. However, the proposal had not moved forward since then. The Centre has also contributed and amount available now for the purpose is Rs 23 crore. "More than Rs 60 crore is required for the purpose. The government is ready to fund the rest," he said.

Siddaramaiah maintained that census will help to know the exact number of population of the particular caste. "It will also be possible for the government to socio-economic status of each caste and accordingly welfare schemes of government can be reached to marginalized section," he said.
Welcoming the move by the government sociologist Prof G K Karanth of Institute of Socio Economic Change (ISEC) said the census will help the government in preparing development and public expenditure and will have clear idea of benefits to be reached. "All most all caste demand benefits from the government claiming the numbers in them. The government can prioritize the schemes depending on the socio-economic status of the particular community," he said.

According to him the move will put an end to speculation to the numbers they claim. "The proposal should have political back up as it involves many things while doing the census. Karanth was apprehensive about the mode of the carrying the survey.

He raised doubts on the government departments conducting census operations impartially and recommended that a reputed research institutes with sociologists and socio-anthropologists should be given the task to do the census. "Who will do it and how will you do it is the big questions. Appropriate methodology and human resources should be adopted in this," he maintained.

Siddaramaiah's move for the caste census has found support from BJP quarters. MLA and former minister Aravind Limbavali said census of each was necessary. "Census should have done long ago. At least this government has shown interest in the doing it, which is welcome step," he said.

Source: http://to.ly/mbRe