Bengaluru: KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad on Saturday called for an organised movement to ensure the implementation of the OBC and caste census report, asserting that sustained political action was necessary to secure the rights of backward communities.
Addressing the 11th National Convention of the National OBC Mahasangh in Bengaluru, Hariprasad said reservation was neither a poverty-eradication programme nor charity, but a constitutional mechanism to ensure representation and bring socially marginalised communities into the mainstream.
Welcoming delegates from across the country, he said Karnataka had a long history of social justice and reservation. He recalled the contributions of Basavanna, Mysuru’s Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and former Karnataka chief minister D. Devaraj Urs in advancing representation for backward communities.
Hariprasad also highlighted the L.G. Havanur Commission report, describing it as a landmark in Karnataka’s social justice movement. Recalling his interventions in the Rajya Sabha during debates on granting constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, he stressed the importance of Article 340 of the Constitution.
Rejecting arguments that reservation undermines development, Hariprasad pointed to southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu, as examples of how social justice policies can coexist with educational and economic progress.
Calling for collective action on the caste census and OBC rights, he said, “The Constitution will protect us only if we protect the Constitution.” He urged the community to remain prepared for a sustained struggle to secure its constitutional rights.
