Inclusion of Christian suffix to sub-castes in draft caste list opposed

Members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes District Coordination Committee has opposed the State government’s move to include sub-castes with Christian suffix in the caste list drafted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes ahead of the socio-educational and economic survey starting September 22.

The former Minister Baburao Chavan and committee members Avanna Myakeri and Ambaraya Ashtagi, addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, said that the Siddaramaiah-led government has added the suffix Christian to 50 sub-castes that do not exist. This has been done in a strategic way to divide the Hindus and encourage conversions, they said.

The Nagamohan Das Commission constituted to conduct a survey of 1.07 crore population of sub-castes among Scheduled Castes has taken three months for the survey. Then, how is it possible to complete the survey of seven crore population comprising 1,400 sub-castes in just 15 days, Mr. Myakeri asked.

Mr. Ashtagi said that Mr. Siddaramaiah uses the caste census and survey to distract people whenever his position (Chief Minister) is under threat.

The socio-economic and education survey report launched in 2015 under the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government spent nearly ₹165 crore and the report was submitted in 2024. On the directions of the Congress high command, Mr. Siddaramaiah did not implement the report and decided to conduct a fresh caste re-enumeration, as some communities have claimed that they have been excluded from the caste survey conducted a decade ago, Mr. Ashtagi said.

The committee members also submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor through the Deputy Commissioner urging him to direct the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission to remove the suffix Christian added to other castes from the list before conducting survey.