Narayana and Sudha Murty skip Karnataka’s 'caste survey'. Here's why it's a problem

Bengaluru’s power couple, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife, Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty, have declined to participate in the Karnataka government’s ongoing Social and Educational (caste) Survey. Their refusal to participate is not against the law since the Karnataka High Court made it clear that it was voluntary. However, their refusal shows a disregard for social justice. 

The couple submitted a self-declaration form dated October 10, saying that they do not belong to any backward class. “Hence, participating in this survey will not be of any help to the government. Therefore, we decline to participate,” the declaration read. 

Measuring the relative backwardness of various communities would be impossible without comprehensive social, educational and economic data about all communities. 

Like Narayana and Sudha Murty, if all people who belong to forward communities decline to participate in the survey, the entire exercise—which is a constitutional mandate on states—risks being undermined. 

The legal position

The statewide Social and Educational Survey, being carried out by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission since September 22, aims to measure social backwardness. 

Section 9(2) of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Act mandates the Commission to conduct a survey on the social and educational status of all citizens of the state to identify groups that are backward and make necessary recommendations to the state government. Under Section 11, the commission must conduct a survey every 10 years to revise the lists of backward communities.  

The Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Act itself was a product of the Indra Sawhney judgement of the Supreme Court, which directed that permanent backward classes commissions be set up to look into reservations. Previous commissions that provided for backward classes reservations in Karnataka, and even the Mandal Commission set up by the Union government, were ad hoc commissions set up under the Commissions of Inquiry Act. 

Although the SC placed a legal obligation on backward classes commissions to survey all citizens of a state, the methodology of the survey was left to the discretion of the commission, and there is no provision in law making participation mandatory, as it is for the decadal census conducted by the Union government. 

Dominant caste groups have consistently opposed the survey, and petitioners representing these interests challenged the survey on various grounds in the Karnataka High Court, which issued an interim order.