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Yathindra, MLC, said here on Saturday that attempts are being made to mislead the public over the ongoing Social and Educational Survey being conducted by the State government. Condemning such attempts, he called for the dispelling of misconception about the exercise through awareness and education. Speaking at a seminar on the survey, Mr. Yathindra said that people should realise that the exercise will determine the social, educational, and economic status of communities, provide relevant data, and come in handy to implement welfare measures. The survey is essential for the socio-economic and political empowerment of communities which have remained backward historically due to caste discrimination, Mr. Yathindra said. Caste is a reality in this country and though one can escape from religion through conversion, there was no escape from the stigma attached to caste, the MLC added. Describing caste as the biggest scourge of Indian society, Mr. Yathindra said that efforts should be made to fight such a pernicious system. As caste is embedded in religion, there should be efforts to usher in religious reforms as well, he added, and said that people from the lower social hierarchy have been deprived of education, power, and wealth since historical times. “Though Buddha, Basavanna, Mahatma Gandhi, and B.R. Ambedkar have tried to fight caste, they were not fully successful. The Dalits and the backward classes, no matter their level of achievements, tend to be socially scorned on the basis of their caste. It is only through the Constitution that some progress has been made,” said Mr. Yathindra. “Those opposing the survey were spreading canards that the society was being divided on the lines of caste and religion. Union Minister V. Somanna has said that it was a conspiracy to suppress or throttle the upper class. His statement sheds light on his mindset which discriminates people as upper and lower castes,” the MLC stated. The society has been divided on the basis of caste and its stranglehold can only be weakened by empowering the people through education, Mr. Yathindra added. Mr. Yathindra claimed that the Centre’s census will also incorporate caste, but will only present numbers and not the extent of social backwardness.
