Bengaluru: Responding to directives from the Congress high command, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Wednesday that his government will conduct a fresh caste re-enumeration exercise across the state within the next 60 to 70 days.
The decision comes after concerns were raised by certain communities claiming exclusion from a previous caste survey conducted nearly a decade ago.
Official sources indicate that the specific logistics and methodology of the re-enumeration process are likely to be discussed at the upcoming cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The Congress leadership reportedly instructed the state government to undertake the new survey to address the lingering anxieties and discrepancies associated with the original 2015-2016 caste survey. “The high command indicated receiving complaints that the original survey, conducted almost ten years ago, might have left out certain groups. Therefore, a swift re-enumeration will be undertaken within approximately 60-70 days,” Siddaramaiah clarified to reporters in Chikkaballapura.
ಜಾತಿ ಗಣತಿ ಸಮೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ವರದಿಯು 10 ವರ್ಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ಹಳೆಯದ್ದು. ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮರುಗಣತಿ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಲು ತೀರ್ಮಾನಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಕಾಂತರಾಜ್ ಆಯೋಗದ ವರದಿಯನ್ನು ನಾವು ತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ತಾತ್ವಿಕವಾಗಿ ಒಪ್ಪಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) June 11, 2025
– ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @siddaramaiah pic.twitter.com/kHraXWL8SE
“We are not rejecting the entire report submitted by the Backward Classes Commission. The report is principally accepted; only a re-enumeration will be conducted.”
When asked if he was disappointed by the high command’s decision to order a re-enumeration instead of immediately acting on the existing report, which was already under cabinet consideration, Siddaramaiah stated, “We will abide by the high command’s decision. This is not my decision, nor is it the decision of the cabinet or our government; it is the decision of the high command. The high command has requested a re-enumeration.”
This decision arrives while the Social and Educational Survey report, widely referred to as the ‘caste census,’ was actively being reviewed by the state cabinet.
The initial survey was commissioned in 2015 by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018). The State Backward Classes Commission, then headed by H Kantharaju, was responsible for preparing the caste census report. While the survey work was completed in 2018, toward the end of Siddaramaiah’s first term as Chief Minister, the final report was only completed in February 2024 by Kantharaju’s successor, K Jayaprakash Hegde.
