Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said his government will conduct a fresh caste re-enumeration exercise in the state in about 60 to 70 days, following a directive from the Congress high command.

According to official sources, the modalities for the re-enumeration are likely to be discussed during the cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The Congress top brass on Tuesday directed the state government to undertake a caste re-enumeration in Karnataka to address the concerns of certain communities who claimed that they were excluded from the caste survey conducted 10 years ago.

"The high command said that some complaints have come because the survey had happened in 2015-16, it has almost been nine-ten years old. So in a short period, in about 60-70 days a re-enumeration will be done. We are not rejecting the entire report (given by the Backward CLasses Commission). Principally the report is accepted, only re-enumeration will be done," Siddarmaiah told reporters here.

Asked if he was disappointed with the party high command's directive for re-enumeration instead of acting on the report under the consideration of the cabinet, he said, "We will go by the high command's decision. It is not my decision, it is not the decision of the cabinet or our government, it is a decision of the high command. High command has asked for re-enumeration." The decision comes even as the Social and Educational Survey report, popularly known as 'caste census' was under the consideration of the state cabinet.

Addressing media in Kalaburagi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said re-enumeration is essential as the data available is 10 years old.

"The criterias that were used in the earlier survey will remain, along with that if anything was left out it will be added. But the re-survey is essential because the data available is ten years old and in ten years many have come into OBC, many were added. So considering all these things a fresh survey has to be done, nothing other than that," he said.

Various communities, especially Karnataka's two dominant ones -- Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats -- have expressed strong reservations about the caste survey that has been done, calling it "unscientific", and have been demanding that it be rejected, and a fresh survey be conducted.

Objections were also raised by various sections of the society, and there are also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress.

After a long wait, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes' survey report was placed before the cabinet for the first time on April 11.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had in 2015 commissioned the survey in the state.

The State Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson H Kantharaju, was tasked with preparing a caste census report.

The survey work was completed in 2018 towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister, and the report was finalised by Kantharaju's successor K Jayaprakash Hegde in February 2024.

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