Southern States - Karnataka

BC panel plans survey of 2 districts

By B.K.Vittal

BANGALORE APRIL 21. The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes is considering whether it can take up with its own finances a survey in a couple of districts to ascertain the social and educational conditions of the backward classes there.

A survey of the entire State is necessary for the revision of the list of backward classes by excluding those classes that have ceased to be backward or including new ones in the list depending on the socio-educational achievement of each caste/sub-caste/tribe/sub-tribes or other groups.

One of the main functions of the national and State commissions for backward classes is the revision of the list on the expiry of 10 years from the coming into force of the relevant law. The urgency for the survey has arisen since the first such revision is due in 2004. A clear provision is also made in the law for conduct of a State-wide survey of the social and educational conditions of the people belonging to backward classes.

The commission, headed by S. Muniraju, has worked out the proposed expenditure for the State-wide survey at Rs. 15 crores after making use of the data available from the Census.

According to sources in the commission, the Union Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment was requested recently to share at least 50 per cent of the costs as matching grant for taking up the comprehensive survey as the State Government found it difficult to provide funds for the project in view of its financial constraints.

A similar letter has been sent to the national commission with a request to prevail upon the Centre to share the cost. The commission is awaiting a reply. It has constituted a committee with representatives from the Census and the Statistics Departments and the Indian Institute of Management to examine how far the cost of survey can be reduced so that it can go ahead with it with its own finances in a couple of districts.

A decision on the districts where such a survey has to be conducted and its timing will be taken at a meeting of the commission soon, sources said.

Mr. Muniraju had detailed discussions with the Chairman and the members of the Backward Classes Commission of Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad recently, and the two had agreed on the need for taking up such a survey on a national basis to effectively implement the reservation policy and to ascertain if the benefits of various welfare measures implemented in a big way were reaching the core of the backward classes.

The problems of the backward classes, particularly the artisans and others engaged in traditional occupations, in the context of globalisation and liberalisation, were also discussed by them. The two had agreed on the need for more training programmes for updating their technology so that they could produce quality goods at reasonable costs to compete in the market.

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