Why activists, educationists want Karnataka caste survey to be taken seriously

Talking to The Federal, A Narayana, professor of the School of Development at the Azim Premji University, who was part of a panel discussion held by Bahutva Karnataka on the caste survey today (October 26), said though flaws surfaced over the way the backward class survey in the state was held — the lack of participation by many citizens being one of them — the outcomes will still help outline policies in the future for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

“Whatever this survey throws up is better than relying on old data belonging to the 1931 census,” said Narayana, who lashed out at a “misinformation” campaign, which created an aura of “mistrust” against the state-sponsored survey. Many people may not have shared adequate details but it is still a good sample and the results can be extrapolated to the overall population, he added.

Vilification campaign

According to Narayana, Karnataka is the only state that is scrupulously following the Supreme Court mandate recommended by the Mandal Commission that such caste surveys should be conducted every ten years by the state backward commission, to measure the extent of the backwardness of OBCs and continue to effectively shape reservation policies in public employment and education. Unfortunately, said Narayana, a few political parties have been throwing a spanner in the works and blocking the path of social justice by dismissing the Karnataka 2025 socio-educational survey as “unnecessary”.

Also read: Karnataka survey different from the Centre’s caste census: Siddaramaiah

They launched a “dangerous vilification campaign” against the survey, criticising it for being a drain on government resources, for causing divisions among Hindus, said Narayana. This led to even apartment associations urging members not to allow the survey’s enumerators, who were largely teachers and principals, into their homes.

“This has caused significant harm to what is simply a state-sponsored data-collection exercise. The state government has the right to collect such data but due to the misinformation, people got suspicious and ended up slamming their doors on these enumerators,” he pointed out, adding that the government should have come out with a law to ensure compulsory participation.

Wealth details

Many people hesitated to divulge Aadhaar numbers or detailed information of their assets. One housewife said many people dithered over divulging details of their wealth since they were worried about how the government would use this kind of information.

Bengaluru-based Meera Prasad, a retired professional, said she entertained the enumerator, a school principal in her area, because she seemed harassed and complained that people were not cooperating. “I felt I had to cooperate since it is a government survey. However, there were too many questions and some seemed pointless. For example, I was taken aback when she asked me how much jewellery I had. Frankly, I could not answer that question,” she shared.

Though the survey is known as a social and educational one, many people who participated in the survey felt that these questions made them uncomfortable. Academics at the gathering to discuss the 2025 Karnataka caste survey pointed out that the economic worth of a person is one of the indicators to assess social backwardness and said these questions were crucial.

Explaining the reason, Rajendran Narayanan, associate professor, Azim Premji University said that caste is strongly correlated to economic class.

Also read: Karnataka extends caste census till October 31

"Various nationally representative surveys suggest that historically marginalised castes, Dalits and Adivasis, are over-represented in low-paying jobs and in the informal sector. To have more informed policies concerning redistribution of resources, it is important to know the extent of wealth held across different caste groups. If we have to create an index of wealth across castes it is likely to show a mirror on how caste tends to fortify concentration of wealth among the historically privileged castes. The Karnataka social and educational survey is a vital step in creating a map, a self-portrait, on how economic resources are disproportionately held by historically privileged castes."

Why Murthys too had to participate

Moreover, to measure the extent of the backwardness of a class/caste, it has to be compared to the data from the rest of the population, which was why it was key for everyone to participate in the survey. The highly-publicised denial by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty, to take part in the survey saying they do not belong to the backward class also did not help matters.

“The OBCs have always been an indistinct group. To assess the extent of backwardness of the group the survey has to include other sections of society as well,” reiterated Narayana.

Lack of communication

Activists pointed out that this was the fault of the government and the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes for not holding any awareness programmes about the survey before launching it.

“There was a total lack of communication on the part of the government this time which led to the widespread mistrust and fear,” said another activist. Also, the Karnataka high court’s order stating that the process is voluntary went against the survey.

In the earlier 2015 caste survey, which has been junked by the government for being “unscientific”, there was more than 94 per cent coverage, with 5.98 crore people out of an estimated population of 6.35 crore taking part. However, in the 2025 survey, officials have told the media that there has been 85 per cent coverage with 1.9 crore households across Karnataka and around 45 per cent of 40 lakh households in the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) area.

Purpose of survey

Narayana said that the survey is a “long overdue exercise” aimed at generating social measures for disadvantaged groups across the board.

Also read: Karnataka caste census: Shivakumar asks officials to avoid ‘personal questions’

“The state government has to be given its due for conducting this survey without any technology or major financial muscle unlike a Census and 100 per cent participation is not possible. But the OBCs should stand by this survey and its findings with all its imperfections. If they care for their own empowerment they should push for this survey,” said Narayana. OBCs form 45 to 50 per cent of the population in the state and get about 27 per cent reservation, he said.

The 2015 report has proposed an increase in reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) to 51 per cent.

Narayana said, “The purpose of this survey will help to relocate the reservation percentage, to give special recruitment advantages to certain caste groups within OBCs and to reallocate resources in favour of certain OBC sections who are historically backward and even worse than SC/ST. These disadvantageous groups need to be identified and policies made to ensure their welfare. The needs of religious minorities like Muslims too need to be addressed since they are under-represented in political life and in government jobs."

Not just for backward classes

Mohan Rao, former professor, public health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that discussions to dispel wrong notions about the survey needed to be held across Karnataka before the survey began.

“Unfortunately, many assumed it was meant only for the backward classes. Maybe, if there had been more awareness, we could have had greater participation. I feel powerful caste groups don’t want the true situation to emerge and are doing their best to mount a challenge against this survey. It is for activist groups to keep the momentum up to ensure the survey results get published in the interests of a constitutionally mandated egalitarian society," he added.