CM unaware of his sub-caste

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, April 16, 2015: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a seasoned politician, does not know the sub-caste he belongs to, though he knows his caste. And he is not aware of his annual income, too!

This became evident when he gave replies to the enumerators who visited his official residence in the City on Thursday to conduct a socio-economic and education survey.

The media was allowed to witness the enumerators collecting details from Siddaramaiah at “Cauvery”  for the survey, popularly known as the ‘caste census’.

One of the enumerators began the question-answer session by introducing himself and stating that the survey was being conducted under the aegis of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission.

“Sir, what is your name?
“Siddaramaiah,” replied the chief minister.
“Your religion?” 
“Hindu.”
“Sir, your caste?”
“Kuruba,” came the reply.

However, Siddaramaiah just shook his head when asked about his sub-caste. He also said he was not aware if his caste was known by any synonymous names.

The enumerator then asked him his age, family details, age when married, details about schooling and educational qualifications.

“Sir, are you employed?” asked the enumerator.

“Yes, I am doing the job of chief minister,” Siddaramaiah said to peals of laughter from his staff and officials. The officials included Backward Classes Department Principal Secretary Shalini Rajneesh.

The enumerator then asked Siddaramaiah about his annual income.

“I get a salary as chief minister. I also get rent..... I will check and provide details,” Siddaramaiah said.

The chief minister said he had filed his annual I-T returns.

When details of the property owned by him were sought, the chief minister said, “I own a house in Vijayanagar, a commercial complex and ancestral property.”

 He said around 72-74 acres of agricultural land was registered in the name of his joint family at his native village. Paddy and ragi were cultivated on the land, which was partly irrigated, he said.  He said he had not taken any reservation benefits.

The enumerator initially closed the survey within six minutes, asking only around 20 of the 55 questions in all. However, he continued with the survey when it was pointed out that it was incomplete.

In all, the survey took 12 minutes.

Two wrong entries were also made by the enumerator. When Siddaramaiah said his traditional occupation was “agriculture”, the enumerator entered the code “4” against the column following a prompt by his colleague. “Code 4” pertains not to agriculture but to “ascetic mendicants” (Bairagi, Sanyasi in Kannada).

Further, to a query as to whether he was an elected representative, Siddaramaiah said he was an “MLA”. The enumerator entered the code for “Member of Parliament” against the question.

The enumerator, Shivakumar, later said he had rectified the mistakes. The errors occurred as there was lot of “confusion” during the survey, he said.

Courtesy: DHNS