Caste census report submitted amid objection by Lingayats, Vokkaligas; cabinet to decide, says CM
Bengaluru, Feb 29: The much awaited Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, generally known as the 'caste census', was submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by Chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes K Jayaprakash Hegde on Thursday.
The report comes amid objections to its findings by certain sections of society and even within the ruling Congress.
"We don't know what is in the report. The government has received the report, it will be placed before the cabinet, and will be discussed and decided there," Siddaramaiah told reporters after receiving it.
People of Karnataka's two dominant communities -- Vokkaliga and Lingayat -- have expressed reservations about the survey, calling it unscientific, and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey conducted.
According to some analysts, successive governments have been shying away from releasing the report as the findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the "traditional perception" of the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue.
ALSO READ: Karnataka caste census report submitted to state government
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, is from the Vokkaliga community. He was a signatory, along with a couple of other ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister, requesting him to reject the report along with the data.
The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, has also expressed its disapproval over the survey, calling it unscientific, and demanded that a fresh survey be conducted.
The Lingayat body is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa. Moreover, several Lingayat ministers and MLAs too have raised objections to the survey and its findings, putting the Congress government in a tough spot.
In 2015, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of 2013-2018 had commissioned the 'caste census' in the state at an estimated cost of Rs 170 crore. The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes under its then chairperson H Kantharaju was tasked with preparing the Socio-Economic and Education Survey Report.
The survey work was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as chief minister, but the report was not accepted or made public.
The commission under its current Chairman Jayaprakash Hegde was to submit the report in November last year. However, as some more time was sought, the government had extended his tenure for the submission of the report.
With pressure mounting on the Siddaramaiah government from certain sections to make the survey findings public, following the release of the Bihar government's caste survey report a few months ago, the chief minister had earlier said that a decision would be taken once he receives the report.
But the survey was mired in controversies even before the report was submitted to the government, amid deep divisions within the ruling Congress, stiff opposition by the two dominant communities against its acceptance, and the survey's original 'work-sheet' copy going missing.
As the two politically influential communities of Vokkaligas and the Lingayats have expressed strong disapproval of the survey, the caste census report seems to be a political hot potato for the government. It may set the stage for a confrontation, given that Dalits and OBCs among others are demanding for it to be made public.
Political parties in the state have indulged in a blame game over successive governments not accepting the survey and not making it public.
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Stock markets break 7-day rally to end lower; HUL drops 4 pc post-earnings
Mumbai, Apr 24 (PTI): Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty reversed their seven-day uptrend and settled lower on Thursday amid profit-taking and disappointing fourth quarter earnings of Hindustan Unilever.
Selling in blue-chips ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and a largely muted trend in Asian and European equities also dragged the markets down.
The 30-share BSE benchmark declined 315.06 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 79,801.43. During the day, it dropped 391.94 points or 0.48 per cent to 79,724.55.
The NSE Nifty went down by 82.25 points or 0.34 per cent to 24,246.70.
In the past seven trading days, the BSE benchmark gauge zoomed 6,269.34 points or 8.48 per cent and the Nifty jumped 1,929.8 points or 8.61 per cent.
From the Sensex firms, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) dropped 4 per cent after the firm reported a decline of 3.35 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,475 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2025, hit by lower margins.
Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finance were also among the laggards.
Nestle India Ltd on Thursday reported a 6.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 873.46 crore for March quarter of FY25 as the FMCG industry faced food inflation and moderation in urban consumption.
IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
"The domestic market witnessed mild profit-booking after the recent rally. Similarly, global markets too experienced selling pressure as the market participants scaled back the possibility of a quick resolution of tariff disputes between the US and China.
"FMCG majors' Q4 results were weak, impacted by subdued volumes and margin pressure, which led the sector to underperform," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
According to Bajaj Broking Research, "Benchmark indices snapped their seven-day winning streak, ending slightly lower. The Nifty opened on a subdued note and traded within a narrow range throughout the day, maintaining a corrective bias,"
The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.16 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.01 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty dropped 1.39 per cent, FMCG (0.82 per cent), teck (0.59 per cent), financial services (0.40 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.33 per cent), BSE Focused IT (0.24 per cent) and power (0.22 per cent).
BSE commodities, healthcare, metal and services were the gainers.
As many as 2,015 stocks declined while 1,920 advanced and 151 remained unchanged on the BSE.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai SSE Composite ended in the positive territory.
European markets were quoting lower.
US markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday. Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.50 per cent, S&P 500 surged 1.67 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.07 per cent.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.03 per cent to USD 66.10 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,332.93 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
The BSE benchmark jumped 520.90 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 80,116.49, the highest closing level since December 18, on Wednesday. The Nifty rallied 161.70 points or 0.67 per cent to 24,328.95.
