The Karnataka government hopes to receive the much-awaited report of the Social and Educational Survey-2025 by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes by January 2026.
According to government sources, the commission is yet to get secondary data from some government departments, although further data processing is underway. “We expect the secondary data to be made available by the departments that have not yet complied with the Commission’s request by the end of December. We hope to receive a report from the Commission by the end of January,” the sources said, adding that it would not take long to compile the data.
Earlier date
The Madhusudan Naik-led commission was earlier tasked with submitting a report by December 2025. After completing the door-to-door survey by October 31 and closing the online window on November 10, about 6.15 million of Karnataka’s estimated population of 6.85 million were included in the survey that began on September 22.
Meanwhile, the commission has asked government departments for secondary data to understand adequate representation in government services, sources said. Adequate representation is mandated by Article 16(4), which is derived from secondary data and backwardness under Article 15(4) through the compilation of survey data. Incidentally, the previous commission did not consider adequate representation and relied heavily on backwardness.
Sources said that since the matter is being dealt with by the court, the commission is taking utmost care in preparing the report and recommendations.
After facing opposition from the dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiava-Lingayat communities during the survey conducted in 2015 by the H. Kantharaj Commission, the report of which was submitted by the K. Jayaprakash Hegde Commission in 2024, the state government discarded the report on the grounds that the data was old and mandated the current commission to submit its report by December.
₹240 crore spent so far
Meanwhile, the state government said that ₹240.72 crore has been spent so far out of the ₹348.36 crore allocated for the survey. The government has released ₹212.27 crore for payment of honorarium to enumerators across the state. More than 1.5 million enumerators participated in the survey.
In a written reply by Backward Classes Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi in the Legislative Assembly to a question by BJP member V Sunil Kumar, the minister said that the process of preparing the report was underway.
Not “census”
The minister said there was no provision in the constitution for the state government to conduct a “caste census”. He said that the Social and Educational Survey is being conducted under the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Act, 1995 to understand the socio-educational conditions and problems of the people of Karnataka. “The survey would help in redrawing the list of Backward Classes either to remove communities that do not qualify for inclusion in the list or to add any communities to the list.”
Published – 13 Dec 2025 20:23 IST
