Date:26/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/26/stories/2008072656490400.htm

Kerala

Panel on backward classes calls for caste-wise census

Staff Reporter

‘Correct population data needed to decide on reservation’

Calls for socio-educational study of castes

74 memorandums under consideration of panel

KASARAGOD: The State needs to conduct a survey to collect the correct data on population of various castes in the State so that the claims of various castes in issues related to reservation can be settled in a just manner, Chairman of the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes Justice G. Sivarajan has said.

At a press conference here on Friday, after a sitting of the commission here, Mr. Sivarajan said requests of several Backward Castes for separate quota within the overall quota of reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBC) were pending before the commission.

The total population of a Backward Caste needed to be more than two per cent of the total population of the State for claiming separate quota, pointed out Mr. Sivarajan. In such cases, a caste or community-wise census would be needed for verifying the claims on population made by aggrieved caste groups.

Moreover, the government was bound to study the backwardness of various castes in the State included in the OBC list and revise it once in ten years.

However, that also had not been done. A socio-educational study of various castes or communities in the State would provide authentic data for solving various issues related to reservation, Mr. Sivarajan said.

He expressed the hope that the State government would conduct the socio-economic study of the State population which it had ordered in 2007. There were indications that the next census in the country, which would be held in 2011, would collect caste-wise data.

If it was done, it would solve many of the issues related to reservation, opined Mr. Sivarajan.

He added that the government needed to create awareness among the public on the authorities concerned who should be approached for solving various issues related to reservation.

Many of the cases filed before the commission were the result of lack of knowledge of the jurisdiction of the commission.

The commission had given advice to the government on 47 cases after it was formed and 46 of them were approved. The advice of the commission was ordinarily binding on the government.

At present, around 74 memorandums submitted by various castes were under consideration of the commission.

The cases considered by the commission at Kasaragod on Friday included complaints submitted by the Padmashaliya community and Turkars, a section of Muslims, regarding their inclusion in the list of OBCs.

Those who participated in the press conference included commission secretary J. Sudhakaran and member Malloorkkara Muhammad Ali Sakhafi.