Codava National Council Urges Centre for Separate Census Code and Column for Codava Community

The CNC highlighted that between 1871 and 1931, census records correctly classified Codavas as an independent, indigenous community.

MADIKERI: The Codava National Council (CNC) has submitted a detailed memorandum to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, urging them to allocate a separate “code and column” for the Codava community during the upcoming General Census Enumeration and caste-wise census slated for 2025.

Welcoming the Union Cabinet’s recent decision to conduct a caste-wise census — the first since 1931 — CNC president N.U. Nachappa Codava said this exercise must be inclusive of micro, indigenous communities like the Codavas, a mono-ethnic warrior clan confined to Kodagu district in Karnataka. “Codavas do not belong to the quadrilateral caste system and have no class or subclass distinctions. A separate code will protect our unique cultural identity and ensure accurate demographic representation,” he wrote.

The CNC highlighted that between 1871 and 1931, census records correctly classified Codavas as an independent, indigenous community. However, from 1941 to 2011, successive governments merged them with broader categories for administrative convenience, leading to what CNC described as an “erosion of identity.” The memorandum claims that the Codava community has since become “stateless” and lacks recognition in official records.

Key demands made in the memorandum include Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, recognition of the Codava language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, special political representation, restitution of hereditary land rights, and recognition under UN conventions as an indigenous group.

“The size of our population should not be a barrier to justice,” Nachappa stated. “What matters is historical continuity and our distinct identity, which must be preserved through constitutional and census mechanisms.”

The memorandum has also been marked to the United Nations, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Karnataka Department of Social Welfare, reinforcing CNC’s longstanding call for geo-political autonomy for Codavaland.

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