Mangaluru, Mar 6: To spread light on the relevance and practicality of caste-based census with respect to social justice among castes in the country, a seminar on ‘Caste Census - Why and How’ was organised by Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy in collaboration with Talent Research Foundation, at TRF auditorium in the city on Thursday.
Inaugurating the seminar, AHINDA district president Vasudev Boloor said that the caste census that would commence from April 11 would be the first-of-its-kind census based on caste, education and economic status to be held in Karnataka since 1931. The decision of the state government to conduct a caste-census is welcoming since it is necessary to determine adequate caste-based reservation. Backward classes and minorities such as Dalits do not have proper political representation in the country. In the state, only 4.68 percent of people from backward classes who make up 55 percent of the total population are in first-grade posts in governmental organisations, while people from the Brahmin community who make up 3 percent of the population occupy almost 50 percent of first-grade posts. Nearly 75 percent of the industrial companies are owned by people belonging to upper classes, he said, adding that the census should be taken seriously and supported by the citizens.
Chief Statistical Officer Pradeep D’Souza said that the census would be undertaken from April 11 to April 30, 2015. The census manual published by the government has listed a total of 1,503 castes, which includes 1,351 castes, 101 scheduled castes and 51 scheduled tribes in the state. The enumerators should fill the census form which has 55 questions, that includes a column for caste, sub-caste and other names that the caste is known by. There are provisions to collect information on the individual about their education, employment, source of income, usage of reservation in education or employment field, social condition, handicaps, facilities received by the government and political representation; and also to collect information on the family collectively such as their economic and social condition, he informed.
Stressing on the importance of the caste census, editor-in-chief of Vartha Bharati Abdussalam Puthige said that although there was no opportunity for discrimination against a person on the basis of his religion, there was no religious objection for the system of caste discrimination based on one’s profession. In the caste census, there should be no opportunity for discrimination between the upper and lower castes. Social workers and members of local religious committees should accompany the enumerators to help them collect information in a reliable manner. If reliable information regarding castes and the social condition of families reaches the government, the monetary allocation for the upliftment of castes or tribes in the budget can be influenced, he said.
Former education minister B A Mohideen delivered the presidential address. Beary Sahitya Academy chairman B A Mohammed Haneef made the introductory remarks.
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