Bengaluru, April 11 (NationPress) During a recent cabinet meeting, Karnataka Law Minister H. K. Patil outlined the details of the contentious caste census report, stating, "Out of the state's 6.35 crore population, data for 5.98 crore individuals were included in the caste survey."

Minister Patil further mentioned, "Approximately 1.35 crore households took part, which represents 94.17 percent data coverage." However, he noted that 37 lakh households did not engage in the survey.

On Friday, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes submitted the findings from the 2015 Socio-Educational Survey, commonly referred to as the caste census, to the state cabinet.

Minister Patil announced that a special cabinet meeting is set for April 17 to thoroughly discuss this report.

The envelope containing the report was unsealed during the cabinet meeting by Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, Shivaraj Tangadagi. The Secretary of the Backward Classes Welfare Department, Sanjay Shettennavar, provided a briefing on the report.

"The study report, utilizing data from the 2015 Socio-Educational Survey as submitted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes on February 29, 2024, was opened and presented to the cabinet for review," he stated.

The Commission delivered its conclusions in a sealed envelope on February 29, 2024, analyzing the data according to 54 indicators.

The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, under the leadership of H. Kantharaj, conducted the statewide socio-educational survey from April 11 to May 30, 2015.

Information was gathered through Schedule-3 from each household, covering 54 parameters related to social, educational, economic, political representation, and occupational conditions," Patil explained.

For this survey, six subject matter experts were appointed, and a total of 16 expert meetings were conducted to finalize the methodology and indicators.

The data collected in each district was digitized, with an agreement worth Rs 43.09 crore signed with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for this process.

The overall cost of the 2015 socio-educational survey was Rs 192.79 crore, with Rs 7 crore provided by the central government and Rs 185.79 crore by the state government. To date, Rs 165.51 crore has been utilized for the survey.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) validated the digitized data, confirming that the SES-2015 data aligns with the 2011 Census, as stated by Minister Patil.

"Due to the lapse in the tenure of the Commission, led by H. Kantharaj, as per the government order dated September 21, 2019, the report was not submitted earlier. A new commission under K. Jayaprakash Hegde was appointed by the government on November 23, 2020. Using the digitized data from the 2015 survey prepared under H. Kantharaj’s guidance, the new commission created the ‘Study Report on 2015 Socio-Educational Survey Data – 2024’ and submitted it to the government on February 29, 2024," Patil stated.

A cabinet meeting is planned for April 17 to examine the socio-educational survey report submitted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. A unanimous resolution regarding this was made in the cabinet meeting, as informed by Minister Patil.