The BJP has gone all guns blazing at the Congress-led Karnataka government, a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a extension of the current Social Education Surveydue to which government schools remained closed for almost a month. BJP Mysore MP Yaduveer Wadiyar said the state government’s move has put a section of students at a “clear disadvantage” and the survey is a waste of public money meant to please egos and serve vested interests.
On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said while some districts like Koppal had completed 97 percent of the work, others like Dakshina Kannada and Udupi had achieved only about 60 percent. The investigation began on September 22 and was supposed to end on October 7, but will now run until October 18.
“This measure will keep government school students away from classrooms for almost a month, while other schools are functioning normally – putting a large number of students at a clear disadvantage,” Wadiyar wrote on X.
The state education department, after consultation with the Permanent Backward Class Commission, issued an order to extend the investigation period. About 1.6 lakh personnel, including 1.2 lakh teachers and 40,000 other staff, are participating in the exercise.
Based on requests from the Teachers’ Association, the government declared government holidays from October 8 to 18 and helped schools to facilitate survey work.
“It was clear even before the survey started that 7 crore people in 2 crore households cannot be covered in just 15 days. Now, the Karnataka Congress government has extended the Dasara holidays for government schools, which will open only after Deepavali,” the BJP MP added.
The Lok Sabha member further suggested that the exercise, which has become a bone of contention between the state government and the Opposition, could have been conducted during the summer holidays, which would have allowed for a smooth process without disruption to education and would have ruled out any confusion.
“But instead, this poorly planned investigation burns public money just to please egos and serve vested interests,” Wadiyar said.
Earlier, Union Minister of State V Somanna also lashed out at the Karnataka Congress government and called the study ‘unscientific’ and ‘full of confusion and technical errors’.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah slammed the state opposition for its criticism of the caste census, calling it “hypocritical”.
Last week, he said the BJP leaders who once supported caste polls in Bihar and Telangana, and whose own Union government initiated a caste census, are now calling for a boycott in Karnataka.
The survey, which began on September 22, is being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. It will cover around 1.43 crore households in the state, at an estimated cost of Rs 420 crore.
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