MANDYA, 2 MAY 

State Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation by bringing in amendments to the constitution, and to take steps towards ensuring quota in the private sector.

He also asked the Central government to fix a time frame for the caste enumeration in the next census, which has been announced by the Central government.

"What we are saying is there should be socio-economic and education survey; and the 50 percent ceiling for reservation has to be removed by bringing an amendment to the constitution, because the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case has said that reservation should not exceed 50 per cent," Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, if reservation is at 50 per cent, it won't be possible to give reservation according to population for those who are backwards socially, economically, and educationally.

In a major decision, the union government on Wednesday decided to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise in a "transparent" manner.

Highlighting Congress party's efforts under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in demanding for caste census, the CM said, now under pressure the centre has agreed to caste enumeration in the next census, but they have not fixed a time frame for the survey.