The H. Kantharaj Commission that conducted the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey in 2015 had identified 1,351 castes and sub castes from Karnataka at the time of survey. However, commission sources said that by the time survey was completed, it had the list of 1,821.
Explaining the increase, sources said that these new castes were of those who had migrated to Karnataka from other States. “A column to mark new castes had been given to enumerators. The new castes have been identified here and many of them could belong to backward classes in their States.”
A few names included Solanki, Sood, Punjabi Jat, and so on. Interestingly, many identified themselves by their language or State such as Odia, Malayalam, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Punjabi, Nepali, and others.
There were also 398 caste names that could not be identified specifically. These constitute 3,750 individuals from 965 households, forming 0.006% of surveyed population.
How many minorities?
About 91 lakh people out of the 5.98 crore (15.19% covered under the survey) belong to minority communities, in which Muslims and their 101 sub castes form the biggest chunk at 76.99 lakh or about 12.87% from about 15.37 lakh households surveyed.
Christians and their 57 sub sects are the second largest minority group with a population of 9.47 lakh from about 2.4 lakh households. They form 1.58% of the total population. The Scheduled Castes Converted to Christians are about 12,865 or 0.022% of the population from 3,012 households. Anglo-Indians form about 0.002% of the population with 1,079 persons from 315 households.
Jains and their six sub castes are about 4.19 lakh from about 93,700 households forming 0.701% of the surveyed population.
There are 10,050 Buddhists from 2,106 households in the State, forming 0.017% of the population. The Parsi community has 762 persons from 210 household forming 0.001% of the population. The lowest religious number among the minority group is Neo Buddhists with a population of 250 persons in about 71 households.
Published – April 16, 2025 03:34 am IST
