By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 21. It has been decided to issue caste identity cards to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other backward class families in the State.

The Social Welfare Minister, Mr. Kagodu Thimmappa, told presspersons here today that the decision was taken by the standing committee on SC/ST and OBC recruitment reservation. At present, families belonging to these categories were being given caste certificates by the tahsildars on request. The committee earlier considered issuing identity cards to each individual, but the idea was given up as it involved huge expenditure as 90 per cent of the State's population came under one or the other reservation category.

He said the department officials had been asked to work out the expenditure involved in preparing the identity cards. They had also been asked to consider providing separate caste and income certificates for the backward classes.

On action against those who had obtained jobs using false caste certificates, the minister said around 150 cases had been detected so far by the Civil Rights Enforcement Cell. A drive would be launched to detect other cases. As a one-time concession, those who had got jobs using false certificates would not be proceeded against, but their children would be prevented from utilising the reservation facility.

Action would be taken against government officials, including tahsildars, who issued false caste certificates, Mr. Thimmappa warned.

He said six departments had failed to submit annual reports on compliance with the roster system and on filling backlog vacancies. The erring departments were Finance and Statistics, Health and Family Welfare, Information Technology, Urban Development, Municipal Administration and Indian Systems of Medicine.

Notices had been issued to the six departments, and to 57 of 189 government institutions and units, seeking explanation for their failure to submit the reports. Action would be initiated against them if their reports were not satisfactory.

Similarly, only 1,129 of the 2,897 educational institutions in the State had submitted annual reports on admitting students against reservation categories for 2000-2001. The rest had been issued notices, and grants and recognition would be cancelled if they were found to have violated the reservation rules, Mr. Thimmappa said.

There were 7,524 and 1,129 backlog vacancies for SCs and STs, respectively, and the officials concerned had been directed to fill the vacancies through a special recruitment drive, he added