From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Oct 29: Karnataka has taken upon itself the task to ascertain whether the people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are uniformly benefitted by the facilities of reservation for education and employment provided under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution.
A judicial inquiry commission headed by retired High Court judge, Mr Justice A J Sadashiva, has been entrusted with the responsibility of finding out whether all the people belonging to SC/ST communities are uniformly benefitted and whether some sections are denied of the benefits and also to suggest ways and means for redressing the situation.
As many as 101 sub-castes or tribes have been included in the Scheduled Tribes category in the State under Article 341 of the Constitution.
In view of the fact that reliable and authentic data pertaining to social, economical, educational, political and cultural status of all families belonging to different sub-castes or tribes among the Scheduled Tribes was not readily available, the A J Sadashiva Commission is conducting two specific surveys.
Under the surveys, data pertaining to persons employed in the Central and State Governments as well as Central and State Government undertakings and also to ascertain the economic, social, political and cultural status of all ST communities.
The Sadashiva Commission has already completed the data entry process pertaining to 24 lakh ST families, which has been entrusted to the State-owned KEONICS Ltd. The State undertaking has also prepared the necessary software for compiling and analyzing the data. The final report will be prepared after studying the data with facts and figures, the Commission has said in a press release.
As part of the study, the Commission has appealed to social scientists, prominent leaders and organisations and those involved in the work of upliftment of the SC/ST people to give their views and suggestions to the Commission at its office on 21st Floor, Visveshwaraya Podium Block, Dr B R Ambedkar Veedhi, Bangalore, by November 15.