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Committed to using caste survey findings for social good: T’gana CM

Feb 05, 2025 08:06 AM IST

The chief minister made the statement in the state assembly, which was specially convened to discuss the socioeconomic, political, educational, employment, and caste survey conducted by the state government between November 6, 2024 and December 25, 2024.

Hyderabad Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday asserted that his government was committed to using the findings of the latest caste survey conducted across the state to extend benefits to the backward classes in politics, education and employment.

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy. (PTI)
Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy. (PTI)

The chief minister made the statement in the state assembly, which was specially convened to discuss the socioeconomic, political, educational, employment, and caste survey conducted by the state government between November 6, 2024 and December 25, 2024.

Expressing doubts over the findings, the Opposition accused the government of conducting the survey in a hurried manner and said the data was fabricated. They also demanded the government conduct a fresh survey. Refuting the claims, the government said the survey was carried out scientifically and it was a laborious process involving 103,000 government employees, each covering 150 households, with each team being monitored by a supervisor.

After a heated debate in the House, the assembly adopted a resolution in support of the survey. It also passed a resolution urging that the Union government to conduct a similar comprehensive survey across the country to enumerate various castes.

Before Telangana, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnartaka have conducted caste surveys.

Speaking after presenting the report in the assembly, the chief minister said the caste survey was conducted in the wake of demands from the historically marginalised other backward classes (OBCs) that they should be enumerated.

“For any policy to come into effect, there should be data to support it. The data from the caste survey will be used to bring socio-political changes in the state,” Revanth Reddy said.

According to the report, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) account for 56.33% of the state population, followed by Scheduled Castes (SC) - 17.43% and Scheduled Tribes (ST) account for 10.45%. The Other Castes (OC) make up 15.79% of the population.

As per the survey, the Muslim constitute about 12.56% of the state’s population. Of this, OBC Muslims are 10.08 percentage points and other category Muslim account for 2.48 percentage point.

The chief minister said that, till now, there was no official information regarding the weaker sections available in the country and it was extremely difficult to implement the OBC quota.

“After 1931, enumeration of the weaker sections has not been conducted in India. The details of the weaker sections have also not been included in the national census report,” he said.

Revanth reddy said the official process for caste census had been completed in a record time as enumerators meticulously collected details across, cities, villages and tribal hamlet . “As many as 76,000 data entry operators worked hard for 36 days to compile the data. The state government spent 160 crore to prepare the report by adopting strict measures,” he said.

He also alleged that former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, former ministers K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao, and BRS MLAs Padma Rao, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, and MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, as well as BJP MP D K Aruna from Mahbubnagar, did not participate. “Out of 3.54 crore people who participated in the survey, all MLAs and MPs disclosed their land details. However, when asked about their landholdings, KCR, KTR, and Harish Rao avoided the survey out of fear,” he alleged. The CM announced that the government would allocate 42% of local body election seats to OBCs and ensure the same percentage in political representation.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Payal Shankar accused the ruling party of using the OBC cause merely as a political slogan to gain votes. He said the figures provided by the state government in the survey do not match the actual population of the state. “According to government estimates, the state’s population is 4.33 crore, while the caste survey suggests it is 3.76 crore. Political parties promise BCs half of the tickets based on population, but in reality, they are given only seats where they have little chance of winning,” he alleged.

He also found fault with the government for introducing new terms such as Hindu BCs and Muslim BCs in the survey. “The government is using court cases as an excuse to delay BC (backward classes) reservations,” Shankar remarked.

Senior BRS lawmaker Talasani Srinivas Yadav also doubted the authenticity of the caste survey findings. “Over the past 15 years, the OBC population has not significantly increased, while the SC and Muslim populations have reportedly declined. In GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation), less than 30% of people participated in the survey, and many did not provide complete details,” he claimed.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi found fault with the state government for not tabling the actual report of the caste survey. “You are conducting a debate on the statement of the chief minister. If you provide us the copy of the original report, we can say whether the report is comprehensive or has any flaws,” he said.

But state irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, who headed the cabinet subcommittee on caste survey, condemned the Opposition’s statements. “No BJP-ruled state has enumerated the OBCs. There is no reduction in the numbers of any caste. We have done the exercise in a scientific way,” he said.

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