The Karnataka Backward Classes Commission (1972-1975) chaired by L. G. Havanur was constituted under the *Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952* during the Chief Ministership of Devaraj Urs. At the time of his appointment to chair this commission, he had about 8 years of experience teching law at gtovt law college in Bangalore and as an advocate in the Karnataka high court. Later on, he would go on to become a Law minister as well from 1978-80. The report of the Karnataka Backwrd Classes Commission often called the *Havanur commission report* was a landmark report that would become a foundational document for Karnataka’s "backward classes" policy and is frequently discussed as an important precursor in the wider national reservations discourse. For context, see: - See [his bio entry on Karnataka legislative assembly](https://kla.kar.nic.in/council/members/EXMEMBERS/HavanurLG.htm) - Wikipedia article on [L. G. Havanur (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._G._Havanur), - [His obit](https://web.archive.org/web/20070311005524/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep212006/panorama1528112006920.asp) in 2006 when he passed - [Article 340 background via NCBC history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_for_Backward_Classes), and - reporting on impact such as [The Hindu (2023)](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/havanur-commission-changed-lives-of-obcs/article66349782.ece). ## Havanur Commission's 4 volumes 1. **Volume I (Part I): Main Report** - IA page: https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.2681 - Direct PDF: https://archive.org/download/dli.csl.2681/2681.pdf 2. **Volume II: Population and Education Particulars** - IA page: https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.2705 - Direct PDF: https://archive.org/download/dli.csl.2705/2705.pdf 3. **Volume III: Service Particulars** - IA page: https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.2719 - Direct PDF: https://archive.org/download/dli.csl.2719/2719.pdf 4. **Volume IV: Socio-Economic Survey Data** - IA page: https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.2707 - Direct PDF: https://archive.org/download/dli.csl.2707/2707.pdf **Supplementary (useful):** Volume I, Part II (Appendices) — https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.2833 ## Volume-wise summaries ## Volume I (Part I) — Main Report - Sets out the commission’s mandate, legal basis, and methodological frame for identifying socially and educationally backward classes in Karnataka. - Provides a long historical narrative on caste hierarchy, colonial-modern transitions, and unequal access to education and state employment. - Discusses criteria for backwardness and the limits of purely income-based approaches; gives primacy to social and educational indicators. - Integrates evidence from caste-wise population estimates, school/college outcomes, and service representation in state institutions. - Builds the constitutional and policy argument for reservations in education and public employment, including the need for internal differentiation among communities. - Contains major recommendations on classification, extent/design of reservation, and institutional follow-through. - Includes annexed instruments and orders in support of the evidence architecture (with appendices split further in Part II). ## Volume II — Population and Education Particulars - Functions as the statistical backbone for caste/community-wise demographic estimation in the state. - Compiles large tabulations of population shares across castes, tribes, and communities (including very small groups). - Provides educational attainment/participation tables (including school-level pass/enrolment distributions) across groups. - Helps trace disproportions between community population shares and educational presence. - Supports identification of educationally deprived communities using quantified evidence rather than anecdote. - Includes technical notes on estimation, classification issues, and limits of available administrative data. - Useful for reconstructing the empirical basis of the commission’s backwardness thresholds. ## Volume III — Service Particulars - Maps representation of communities across government departments and cadres. - Presents service-wise and cadre-wise composition data to identify under-representation in state employment. - Connects service inequity with educational access and historical social exclusion. - Includes comparative statements on adequacy/inadequacy of representation in specific services. - Lists backward communities/castes/tribes in relation to service outcomes and opportunity structures. - Offers evidence for employment-side policy design (recruitment, reservation allocation, monitoring). - Valuable for understanding how the report operationalized “representation justice” in administrative structures. ## Volume IV — Socio-Economic Survey Data - Provides district-wise and caste/community-level socio-economic survey tables and coding schedules. - Includes field survey architecture (questionnaires, variables, and instructions) used across sampled villages/urban wards. - Covers household-level indicators such as education, occupation, living conditions, and social disabilities. - Contains consolidated tables used to interpret social and economic deprivation patterns. - Works as the methodological evidence volume tying fieldwork to policy conclusions in Volume I. - Useful for researchers examining early large-scale state social surveys in post-independence India. - Also important for understanding data constraints, category construction, and survey-era biases. ## Reading note: how to use all four volumes together - **Vol I** = argument and recommendations. - **Vol II** = demographic and educational base tables. - **Vol III** = public employment representation tables. - **Vol IV** = field survey design + primary socio-economic data. ## Last decade: articles/essays on impact and legacy (starter list) 1. **The Hindu (2023):** *“Havanur Commission changed lives of OBCs”* https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/havanur-commission-changed-lives-of-obcs/article66349782.ece 2. **Deccan Herald (2025):** *“Remembering the Havanur ‘Bible’”* https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/remembering-the-havanur-bible-3808011 3. **Deccan Herald (2025):** *“L G Havanur: The visionary who championed equality”* https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/l-g-havanur-the-visionary-who-championed-equality-3810345 4. **Times of India (2026):** On Devaraj Urs reforms and Havanur Commission legacy in Karnataka politics https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/champion-of-backward-classes-urs-reshaped-karnataka-with-his-reforms/articleshow/126357486.cms 5. **Context source on constitutional-institutional trajectory:** NCBC history and Article 340 context https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_for_Backward_Classes