Telangana Caste Census: Due respect to BC's will be given, says CM Revanth Reddy

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has said that the state government conducted the caste census in Telangana better than the population survey, and the data would be utilised for creating welfare policies.

Revanth Reddy presented the caste census survey report in the special session of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, after the approval of the Cabinet to provide full legality. This decision was taken to give due respect to BCs compounding over 56 percent of the total 3.70 crore population in Telangana, he said.

Addressing the House, the chief minister said that so far there is no reasonable information regarding the vulnerable groups in the country. Due to this, difficulties are arising in the process of implementation of reservations.

"After 1931, the number of weaker sections in India has not increased till now. The census also does not include the figures of the weaker sections. That is why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promised to conduct a caste census in the state during the Bharat Jodo Yatra," Revanth Reddy said.

“As promised, when Congress came to power in the state, we took a decision in February 2024 to conduct a comprehensive household census survey in the state. We have thoroughly studied the surveys conducted in various states, including Karnataka and Bihar, and taken the opinions of various associations and intellectuals on the management procedures. For almost 50 days, the survey was conducted in the state,” the chief minister said.

Rs 160 crore spent for caste census survey

Elaborating further, Revanth Reddy said that in each village, the enumerators gathered the details in teams. “We have identified every 150 houses as a unit and assigned enumerators and collected the details. A sticker was placed on every household and the enumerators conducted the survey on not more than 10 houses a day. As many as 76,000 data entry operators worked hard for 36 days to prepare this report. We spent Rs 160 crore and prepared a specific armory report within a year after forming the government,” the chief minister said.

Disclosing the details of the caste census survey report, he said that the survey covered as many as 66.39 lakh families in villages and 45.15 lakh families in towns, which totals around 1.12 crore families in the state. According to the survey, SCs accounted for 61,84,319 (17.43 percent), BCs (excluding the Muslim minority), 1,64,09,179 (46.25 percent), STs- 37,05,929 (10.45 percent), Muslim minorities 44,57,012 (12.56 percent) people, he said.

The data has given an actual number of the population of the backward class in the state and that will help to allocate funds for their development and also political reservations - explained a senior Congress leader. "We now know which caste has how many people and that is the first time in the country that a state has got actual data. Despite whatever hurdles were created, it must be credited to the Congress party that they have successfully completed the door-to-door survey," the senior Congress leader said.

Speaker adjourns Telangana assembly amid ongoing cabinet meeting

Earlier in the day, Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar adjourned the House till 2 pm after the government requested the presiding officer, citing an incomplete cabinet meeting after the session began at 11 am.

Soon after the session began, Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu informed the Speaker that the cabinet meeting was still going, and it would take some more time to prepare the minutes of the meeting.

However, BRS legislators found fault with the treasury benches, alleging that the government’s acts amounted to insulting the House. Former Minister and senior BRS senior leader Prashanth Reddy said it was surprising that the House was adjourned without taking up any business.

"It has never happened in history. The situation is nothing but insulting to the members and the House," Reddy said, and added that the government had informed that the cabinet meeting would be held at 10 am and the session would commence at 11 am.