Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Credit: DH Photo
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said his government was committed to accept the caste census report in November or December and implement its recommendations.
The caste-wise socio-economic survey report, popularly known as caste census report, was commissioned in 2015 by the previous Congress government.
The survey work was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah’s first tenure as chief minister.
He was speaking to reporters after the ‘Prerana Samarabha’ organised by Kalidasa Health and Education Trust and Ahilya Foundation here.
Siddaramaiah said his government was the first to commission the caste census in the country, under H Kantharaju, who was the chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSCBC), to know the exact socio-economic status of each caste.
“Post 2018, successive governments of H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai failed to accept the report and implement its recommendations. The incumbent KSCBC chairperson K Jayaprakash Hegde has announced that he will submit the report in November. Once he submits the report, we will accept it after placing it before the Cabinet,” he said.
Earlier, the chief minister distributed scholarships to medical students from backward classes. “No one is born intelligent and everyone can become intelligent, if they get equal opportunities,” Siddaramaiah said.
He said prior to the arrival of the British, education was prohibited for Shudra communities and even girls of upper castes were not given education. “It was Dr B R Ambedkar who gave the right to education to the Shudra community and girls,” he said.
He appealed to caste-based organisations to refrain from focusing on establishing medical colleges alone.
“Instead, these organizations must strive to establish paramedical colleges, ITIs and hostels in order to nurture rural talents. Establishing and maintaining medical colleges is a very expensive proposition. Even if the caste-based organisations set up these institutes, they will not be able to offer free medical seats to their own community members. Hence, these organizations must focus on building institutes that can nurture rural talents,” the CM said.