We will identify castes in need of reservation: BC panel chief

The State government has appointed former minister K. Jayaprakash Hegde as the chairperson of the Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes Commission which has remained headless for a long time.

The opposition had gone hammer and tongs demanding the appointment of head of the commission who can submit the caste census of the State, that was commissioned by former chief minister Siddaramaiah in 2016-17.

In an exclusive chat with The Hans India, Hegde said that his first priority would be to identify the castes which have not been recognised so far.

"I will first identify the castes which really need reservation. The commission will then recommend to the government to give them some benefits of the reservation. In fact the government of India has appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Justice Rohini who was the chief justice of the Delhi High Court. There are issues with regards to the names in the list, spelling errors in the existing list of the OBCs resulting in the caste not getting the benefits of reservation. We are trying to compare both the list and sort it out," he said. After H. Kantharaj under whom the commission undertook the survey had demitted office the commission remained headless.

So far Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have carried out sub-categorisation of the OBC's.

There is a huge demand by the people in the OBC list to be included in certain categories where there is less competition for reservation.

Hegde responded that such issues will be discussed in the committee.

"We will submit the report to the government and the rest of the decision is left to them. Till the report is submitted we cannot disclose anything," he added.

Commenting on the statement that often the issues regarding the welfare of the backward classes get mired in politics, Hegde remarked that the commission can only make recommendations to the government and it cannot interfere in the decision making of the government.

"In my capacity I will try to follow up. Some categories which are in need of help we need to help them," he said.