Reservations should continue till casteism is rooted out: Siddu

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

 Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has called for the need to implement reservations in the judiciary, both at the state and Centre.

 In his inaugural address at an event to mark the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Havanur Commission in the city on Monday, he said, “For backward classes and women, sufficient reservations should be given in the assembly, parliament, panchayat, municipalities, government jobs and even in the private sector. We will aim at having one crore reservations soon with adequate representations in all fields. Reservations should continue till there is complete abolition of the caste system. We need to fight our way to create awareness about reservations and demand social justice.” He also said that we have not accomplished social justice till today, as inequality is prevalent.

The event was organised by the Karnataka State Backward Castes Federation (KSBF) and it was presided by Karnataka State Backward Castes Federation President Ramachandrappa. The chief guest was Dr Veeramani, President, Dravida Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu.

 In his keynote address, KSBF founder Chairman Prof Ravivarma Kumar hailed the Havanur Report and the methodology that was adopted, the collection and incorporation of empirical data through socio educational survey and the scientific criteria for identification of backward classes. He said, “Such an enormous exercise was done in the Havanur report and for the first time in the history of backward classes, a monumental report of over thousand pages is for all of us to witness and appreciate, the exceptional work of this value-based report.”

 He also added by saying that the classification and identification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had no such problems as the Constitution has clearly laid down under Article 341 and 342. However, no such definition was given for the Backward classes. The report was implemented in 1977. “It is a proud moment for the people of Karnataka to recall the contribution of L.G. Havanur has been fully incorporated and racial justice has been so well unveiled up to the stage of the highest echelon including the constitutional court of South Africa with full proof methodology to identify the backward classes,” Dr Veeramani said.

 Former minister H.M. Revanna described the Havanur Report as a voice of many voiceless people, with its clear vision on the struggle of social justice. “It is the Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita of the voiceless people to get social justice,” he added. Former Chairman, Karnataka Legislative Council by V.R. Sudharshan also attended the event