Mysuru, 3 Oct

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government could extend the deadline for the caste survey beyond the 7 October deadline, as the Social and Educational Survey began with a rocky start.

For the first three days of the survey, the government received complaints of technical glitches and server issues, delaying the enumeration.

Siddaramaiah said that if the technical issues were resolved successfully, the survey should be able to complete within the stipulated deadline.  

“The progress of the survey will be monitored, and future decisions will be taken accordingly,” he said, speaking to reporters on Friday at his Mysuru residence. "I hope the survey will be completed within the set deadline.”

As of Thursday, enumerators had covered 3 crore people visiting 80 lakh houses across the State. 

Siddaramaiah said that it is not a caste survey but an exercise to know the social and education background of people. He added that the government was not seeking to divide castes, but the survey was an exercise to know the social and education background of people.

He also accused Union Minister Prahlad Joshi of twisting the facts over the GST slab cuts.

GST reduction is an election gimmick of BJP aimed at wooing the voters in Bihar, he said, scoffing at Joshi’s request that people should celebrate the cuts.

On tax-devolution, Siddaramaiah that the State government could approach the Supreme Court to request the Union government to release the due funds.