K’taka HC Upholds State’s Socio-Economic Survey, Stipulates Voluntary Participation

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday declined to interfere with the ongoing socio-economic and caste survey being conducted by the state government, while stressing that participation must remain voluntary.

A bench directed the state to issue a notification clarifying this condition and further instructed that all data collected be kept confidential. “No personal or sensitive information gathered during the survey should be made public or shared with unauthorised entities,” the court said.

Petitioners’ Concerns

Senior advocate Vivek Reddy, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the survey framework itself was “flawed.” He claimed that the state had failed to create a proper classification of castes and sub-castes, and warned of the creation of “artificial caste categories” to manipulate outcomes. He also flagged concerns about data storage and security.

Government’s Stand

The survey, spearheaded by Madhusudan Naik, Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, is expected to cover around seven crore people between September 22 and October 7.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, announcing the exercise earlier this month, defended it as a crucial step to assess the socio-educational status of Karnataka’s population. Brushing aside opposition criticism, he said:

“The BJP is doing politics on this issue and accusing the Congress government of being anti-Hindu. The survey will begin on September 22 and will not be postponed.”

Karnataka’s survey comes months after Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy unveiled his state’s socio-economic survey in July, which examined caste, educational, and economic conditions in detail.