Rajya Sabha member and philanthropist Sudha Murty opted out of the ongoing social and educational survey being conducted by the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, after the High Court clarified that participation in the survey is voluntary. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the government will not compel anyone to take part in it. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed the couple asserting that the exercise was not a backward classes survey but an enumeration of the entire population.
“Should Infosys (founder) mean ‘Brihaspati’ (intelligent)? We have said 20 times that it is not a backward classes survey but a survey for everyone,” Siddaramaiah said. However, he said that the participation is left to the couple. The survey is not a backward classes survey. “If they have not understood that, what can I do? Just because they are Infosys, are they all-knowing?”
Siddaramaiah said that they have clarified many times even after Sudha and Narayana Murthy mentioned that they do not belong the Backward Classes. The survey is not earmarked for BCs. The Central government is also conducting survey. What will they do? They might have wrong information, he said.
When enumerators approached Sudha Murthy’s residence, the couple reportedly told them that they don’t want the survey conducted at their home. They also made it clear that they do not belong to the BC community and hence abstain from the survey. Sudha Murthy is said to have written and signed a statement on the survey form.
Reacting over the incident, Siddaramaiah said that the government had launched several welfare schemes like Shakti which offers free rides to women in non-luxury government buses and Gruha Lakshmi which provides Rs 2000 a month to women heads of families, belonging to economically weaker sections. Despite repeated clarifications from ministers, there are still some doubts and misconceptions about the exercise, the CM said. The Centre is also coming up with a caste census. What answer will the couple give them?, he asked.
Apart from the Infosys couple, former Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai also slammed the caste survey. He said that compared to the benefits and high-paying jobs, the survey was very small. In Karnataka, ministers are more bothered about caste surveys, appeasement than growth and good jobs.
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