Caste census: Clamour emerges over how sub castes are classified

Amid a clamour by caste groups to club all sub-castes together ahead of the enumeration for the socio-educational survey being undertaken by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes from September 22, the commission has declined to entertain their demand, citing legal hurdles.

The commission, a fortnight ago, published a list of 1,400 castes/ sub castes alphabetically calling for suggestions and objections. The sub castes of Vokkaligas, Veerashaiva Lingayats, Brahmins, Kurubas, Christians, and Muslims, among others, are scattered across the list that follows the alphabetical order. The commission is likely to have a list of about 1,800 castes/ sub castes when the survey commences.

Past experience

“We saw during the last enumeration that scattering of sub castes creates problems to enumerators as well as leading to confusion that reduces the number. In some cases, similar sounding caste names or the first names could result in wrong entries. We are opposed to this alphabetical order list and we have submitted to the commission to club all sub castes under the main castes. We have provided a list of 87 sub castes of Veerashaiva-Lingayats that can be brought together,” Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha secretary H.M. Renuka Prasanna told The Hindu.

The Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha has also told the commission that all Brahmin sub castes should be brought together instead of it being scattered. It has listed 64 Brahmin sub sects that should be incorporated to the final list. The Vokkaliga Sangha has also made a similar land.

The difficulties

However, commission member-secretary K.A. Dayanand argued: “It is not possible to keep all castes/ sub castes together. Only notified castes can be kept together and in Karnataka 814 castes/ sub castes have been notified. Along with this, there are about 1,000 unnotified castes. However, after the survey, we will discuss and decide on castes that can be grouped together.”

In the first socio-educational survey in 2015 by the H. Kantharaj Commission, demands had come from the caste groups to keep all sub castes together which, however, was not entertained.

“It was among the reasons the caste groups used as a cover to call the survey unscientific, though it was robust with over 95% of the population covered,” said K.N. Lingappa, member of the H. Kantharaj Commission. “We encountered challenges during enumeration in 2015 where alphabetical order was followed because it was our first experience. Based on that experience, it could have been changed this time to bring castes/ sub castes together to prevent anyone attempting to malign the exercise.”

Mobile-friendly

However, commission chairperson Madhusudan R. Naik said the alphabetical order will be maintained since it is easier to scroll on the mobile.

“There is a misconception that population of the community may not be captured fully. This is not true. We are not trying to show any community’s number less or more. These are self declaration of individuals based on which data is captured. There is absolutely no confusion,” he added.

Confusion in the past

Some of the castes that find a mention in the list created problems during classification in the previous commission. For example, according to K.N. Lingappa, a member of H. Kantharaj Commission, the caste list had only Sunnagara. However, it was found that Sunnagaras are a sub caste both in both the Uppara and the Bestha castes. “People did not have a choice to identify which Sunnagara they were.”

Similarly, problems were faced in enumerating Katic, a sub caste both among Hindus and Muslims, and finds mention in Category 1 and Category 2A; Phoolmali, a caste representing flower vendors, found both among Hindus and Muslims as well as Category 1 and 2 A.

Christian sub groups

Objections have been raised over notification of various Christian sub groups. Brahmin Christian, Banajiga Christian, Banjara Christian, Lingayat Christian and Vokkaliga Christian are among those listed. Christian community gets reservation under 3-B in OBC list. The Akhila Bharatha Brahmana Mahasabha, among others, have objected to these classifications. However, in the previous survey people had identified with such groupings.