Structure:

1.  Brief introduction to Millers committee report recommendation (20 words)
2. Its positive impact on upliftment of the backwards class in Karnataka and how is gave rise to backward class movement in Karnataka ( 60 words)
3. Its limitations- Impact on Dalit seen only in later date as millers committee did not take Dalits into consideration. Growth of communalism in Karnataka after the report was accepted (50 words)
4. End with the positive note by mentioning how later backward commission bridged the gaps of millers committee report (20 words)

Content:

Background:

• In June 1918, a delegation of Praja Mitra Mandali leaders presented a formal plea to the Maharaja demanding major concessions for non-Brahmins
• The royal family, which was supporting the non-Brahmin cause from the beginning responded to the demand favourably and in August of that year a committee was appointed under Sir Leslie Miller, to enquire into communal representation in the state administration .
• Thus, the Princely state of Mysore was the first state to appoint a committee to go into the demands of the Backward Classes, the realisation of which would break the monopoly of dominant minority in the field of intellectual production and administration
• The Committee in its report submitted in August 1919 called for special provisions for non-Brahmins in scholarships and educational facilities and in appointment to state civil service, which came into force by an order of the Government in May 1921
• When Maharaja had consented to the establishment of the Miller Committee in 1918, his Dewan M. Vishweshwaraya had felt compelled to resign, and in 1919 the Maharaja appointed his uncle Kantharaj-Urs as Dewan, the first non- Brahmin to hold that post.

Recommendation of the committee:

•  Within a period of not more than seven years not less than one and half of the higher and 2/3 of the lower appointments in each grade of the service and so far as possible in each office are to be held by members of communities other than the Brahmin community, preference being given to duly qualified candidates of the Depressed Classes who are available
• The Committee also recommended multiple steps to improve the educational system, including scholarships for backward classes, relaxation of the age limit for appointment to public service, and an end to the competitive merit-based examination for the selection of candidates

Analysis:

1. Improved the representation of Backward class in government service:

 The reservation policy had some positive impacts on increasing the percentage of non- brahmins in both the gazetted and non-gazetted posts in government services. The Government Order, dated 16 May 1921, stated that the proportion of backward classes in government service would be gradually raised to 50 per. This further gave impetus towards the backward class movement in Karnataka.

2. Backward class and rural link in Politics:

During the same period, a new generation of non-Brahmin leaders who had spent several years at British Indian law schools arrived on the state level political scene with fresh political ambitions of gaining executive control over Mysore administration through an electoral process which Montague Chelmsford reforms brought to British India. These young non-Brahmin leaders were able to build networks with the rural folk and came out successfully in the elections of District Board Presidencies. Half a dozen of them even entered the Representative Assembly to develop skeletal network of connections throughout the state. It enabled them to bridge the gap between the non-Brahmin urban elite and their rural counterparts which was very wide. They organised a non-Brahmin conference in 1929. The following years witnessed the formal establishment of a new non-Brahmin political association called ‘Praja Paksha’.

3. Impact on Dalits:

After Miller Committee recommendations in 1920s, a small-educated section from Dalit communities was also making a limited entry into government employment. However this was comparatively less because the report gave representation to the 'Backward Castes' and generally ignored the Dalits. Thus the majority benefit was to 3 major Non-Brahmin community

The general preferential policy during the 1920s and 1930s led to a situation in which the non-Brahmins became a contentious alliance of different caste groups and communities, engaged in political opposition to the dominant Brahmins for the share of the general allotment. Dalits, however, were marginalised from this struggle.

There were no special provisions for the dalits until they were given political reservation in 1940. This contrasted with the rapidity, with which dalits made and won special claims in other parts of India and reflected their politically weak position in Karnataka

4. It also gave rise to growth of Communalism in Karnataka:

The main reason for the growth of communalism was Brahmin dissatisfaction with the implementation of Miller Committee report and successive appointment of non- Brahmin Dewans. They were waiting for an opportunity to settle scores with the Government and if possible create a rift between the state and the non-Brahmins and dissenting groups within the backward class. It was under this condition that the seeds of communal disharmony were successfully sown in the field of regional politics. The Brahmin resentment was given an anti-Muslim colour.

The Bangalore disturbances of 1928 and other communal disturbances that followed it till 1935 proved to be very distressing for the non-Brahmin movement. The disgruntled politicians, who were dissatisfied with the patronage extended by the Government to the non-Brahmin Backward Classes succeeded in creating a rift in the united non-Brahmin Party and estrange the relationship between the Dewan and the non- Brahmins. As a result, a significant section among the non-Brahmin leaders began to support Hindu communalists and opposed the Muslim Dewan. This incident also compelled Muslims to close their ranks and stand solidly behind the Dewan. The Muslim League, which was unheard of in Mysore also came to be organised. This drift was further widened with the emergence of a new class of non-Brahmin leaders in 1930’s who were influenced by the nationalist agitation led by the congress.