Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily asks Karnataka govt to release caste census report

PTI, Oct 3, 2023, 5:36 PM IST

Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday asked the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release the report of the caste census conducted in the State. Moily, a former Union Law Minister, noted the caste census was conducted by the then Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission under the chairmanship of H Kantharaj during the previous tenure of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister (2013-2018) and it had later submitted the report.

”And the report was available with both during the tenure of (H D) Kumaraswamy, (B S) Yediyurappa and (Basavaraj) Bommai as Chief Minister (between 2018 and 2023). That means they (JDS and BJP) are not for that (releasing the report), it was very clear,” Moily told PTI.

”Whenever the Congress government comes (to power), we are very anxious to serve the interests of the backward classes,” said the former Karnataka Chief Minister, who was asked if he wants the state government to release the report, similar to what the Nitish Kumar administration did in Bihar on Monday.

Moily recalled that he had released the report of the Chinnappa Reddy Commission in 1992 when he was the Chief Minister even though the report of the panel constituted by the previous Ramakrishna Hegde regime (Janata Party) was ready during the latter’s tenure at the helm itself.

”I am asking Siddaramaiah to release the report immediately,” he said. ”Now that the Congress government has come to power and Siddaramaiah has become CM, he has to release the report.”

If there are ”problems” regarding ”injustice” (to some communities) in the report, Siddaramaiah can take the course of rectification after releasing it, Moily said, adding, the Chief Minister should not cite technical reasons for not making it public.