`Jitni abadi, utna haq’: Telangana gears up for caste survey, becomes 3rd state in India

Hyderabad, Sept. 28: The Telangana government is bracing up for a full-fledged socio-economic caste survey in the state.

Unlike former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s one-day Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) on August 19, 2014, which created a sensation in the country, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is focussing on an extensive survey covering over a dozen aspects including household information like caste, religion, employment, income, assets, etc.

Sources in the government said about 1.3 lakh enumerators are likely to be drafted and the survey could well take three months to complete. It is going to be launched soon.

Bihar and Karnataka have conducted caste census in the country in recent times and Telangana will be the third State to do so. Several other states including Odisha, Maharashtra, Assam, and Rajasthan too are planning to go for caste census.

Telangana Chief Secretary Smt a Santhi Kumar held a meeting with Minister for Backward Classes Ponnam Prabhakar, Principal Secretary B Venkatesham, BC Commission Chairman Niranjan, Rapolu Jayaprakash, Tirumalagiri Surender, Balalakshmi and others to chalk out an action plan for the socio-economic, caste survey of the households in Telangana State.

Rahul Gandhi: “Jitni abadi, utna haq”

Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been harping on the caste census in the country and it is one of the election promises in the country including Telangana.

Defending the need for a caste census, Rahul Gandhi asserted,” Jitni abadi, utna haq” (Like population, like rightful due).

He said a caste census aims at providing nearly 90 percent of the country’s population their "rightful due". "If this much of the population does not get its due, the Constitution cannot be preserved or protected," he said.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that 90 percent of the country’s population remains marginalized with little to no representation in the corporate world. Gandhi maintained that such a census would form a key policy framework for Congress.

Taking a cue from Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has taken the issue seriously and decided to conduct the same at the earliest.

The Congress, in its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, promised a nationwide caste census. In election rallies, Rahul Gandhi promised to ensure reservation based on SC, ST, and OBC numbers, which many suggest are close to over 80 percent.

Assembly resolution, HC direction

Revanth Reddy government adopted a unanimous resolution in the Telangana State Assembly for a comprehensive household caste survey to provide socio-economic, educational, employment, and political opportunities to Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and other weaker sections of the state.

Telangana High Court has mandated that the state government complete a survey within three months to identify the politically backward classes and to enumerate backward-class voters across all local bodies in Telangana.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who is regularly monitoring the survey aspects, is keen to utilize the data after the survey for formulating various socio-economic welfare schemes and fixing reservations in various sectors including education, employment, and elections among others.

The resolution moved by State Backward Classes Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and adopted after a debate in the assembly said: “This House resolves to take up a comprehensive door-to-door household survey (Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey) of the entire Telangana State to plan and implement various socio, economic, educational, employment and political opportunities for the amelioration of Backward Classes, SC & ST citizens of the State and other weaker sections of the State.”

Though the TRS government’s survey data is with the State government, it could not be used due to a lapse of time. KCR had kept the survey report under wraps for some reasons and it was never made public. KCR claimed that a day survey in 2014 was aimed to “ensure objectivity and prevent duplication.”Government sources say the former TRS Government SKS report has become “infructuous” since it was not implemented within three months of submission of the report.

SKS survey cost the exchequer Rs 33.94 crore besides other expenditures for maintenance of database etc. However, the present Congress government survey is likely to be much costlier.