Hyderabad: The Telangana government is planning to conduct a comprehensive socio-economic, educational, employment, political, and caste survey that will enumerate all castes, rather than focusing solely on the Backward Classes (BC) communities. This approach is inspired by the caste surveys conducted in Karnataka.
Sources indicate that, after reviewing the caste surveys in Karnataka, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana government has opted to follow the Karnataka model. This decision comes in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling permitting state governments to subcategorize Scheduled Castes for reservation purposes.
On Tuesday, BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, State BC Commission Chairman G. Niranjan, and Chief Minister's Advisor for Public Affairs Vem Narender Reddy met at the Secretariat to discuss the modalities for conducting the caste census. Another important meeting is expected within a week to finalize these modalities.
According to a government official involved in the decision, "The government will appoint an agency to conduct the caste, socio-economic survey." The plan is to conduct the caste census through either the Panchayat Raj or General Administration department, appointing a senior IAS officer to oversee the process.
In February, the state government passed a resolution in the Assembly stating, “This House resolves to conduct a comprehensive door-to-door household survey [socio-economic, educational, employment, political, and caste survey or Kulaganana of the entire Telangana state] as per the decision of the council of ministers on February 4, 2024, to plan and implement various socio-economic, educational, employment, and political opportunities for the upliftment of backward classes, SC, ST citizens, and other weaker sections of the state.”
However, in September, the government issued GO 199, appointing the chairperson and members of the Telangana Commission for Backward Classes. This executive order designated the BC Commission as the dedicated body for enumerating backward classes to determine reservations in local bodies. While the Assembly resolution aimed to enumerate all castes, the executive order limited it to BC castes.
In light of recent socio-political developments, the government is reconsidering its initial plan to conduct the census under the supervision of the BC Commission and has decided in principle to enumerate all castes.