Remove 50% cap and give reservation proportional to the population: Siddaramaiah 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, welcoming the Union government’s decision to carry out a caste census along with the general census, said that it was high time the 50% cap on reservation was removed and communities be given benefits of affirmative action proportional to their population. He also added that a caste census was not enough and only a socio-economic and educational survey along with it will help understand the ground reality and help increase reservation beyond 50%. 

Crediting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “compelling” the Union government to take up caste census, he said the exercise, if coupled with a socio-economic and educational survey, will help bring several communities to the mainstream. He demanded that the government immediately take up the exercise and finish it within a fixed timeline. 

Hitting back at Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who announced the Cabinet’s decision saying the Congress was opposed to a caste census and that State governments were not authorised to conduct caste census, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Union government was only following the State government.

“The BJP opposed the guarantee schemes and are now announcing similar schemes across various States. Now they are following us and have announced a caste census across the nation, which we welcome,” he said.

He also accused the BJP of always being “anti-social justice” and said even now the caste census announcement seemed aimed at the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. 

He also hit back at Union Minister and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for welcoming the caste census. “He is now singing praises of the Union government, while he opposed it in the State. During the coalition government when OBC Welfare Minister C. Puttarangashetty fixed the date to accept the caste census report, Mr. Kumaraswamy, who was Chief Minister, threatened to sack him and ensured the report was not submitted,” he said.