Caste census: Telangana BC panel chief welcomes Assembly resolution

Hyderabad: Chairman of Telangana Commission for Backward Classes Dr Vakulabharanam Krishnamohan Rao on Friday welcomed the unanimous passage of a resolution in the State Assembly urging the Union government to hold caste census along with the 2021 population census.

“It is a refreshingly welcome news that the resolution has been passed unanimously in the Assembly. Telangana is the fifth Indian State after Odisha, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand to adopt a resolution without any dissent asking the Centre to include caste census in the general census of 2021,” he said.

Though the Supreme Court and other High Courts of India recommended and mandated caste census to generate the exact and accurate caste-wise population in order to formulate better policies and schemes for the benefit of BCs/OBCs, the BJP government at the Centre strangely and for the reasons best known to it was not willing to include caste item in the 2021 census, he said.

“It is disappointing to note that the SECC-2011 data hasn’t been made public and shared with States, though Rs 4,893.61 crore was spent on it. Very sadly, the BJP government informed the Supreme Court through an affidavit that the data generated is erratic and unusable and moreover administratively, it was not feasible to include caste category in 2021 census at this stage as the preparations have reached the end point,” he said, adding that such statements had shaken the confidence of OBCs across the country.
“It is relevant to note that the Central government has a dedicated administrative machinery to conduct any kind of census and States have no such system and administration in place. Thus, the final output of such census will be more authentic and acceptable to any court of law and will have less litigations,” Krishnamohan Rao pointed out.

Scientific and accurate data on socially and educationally backward classes would be realistically possible if caste is included in the 2021 census so that appropriate redressal mechanism can be formulated to empower these classes accordingly, he said, and appealed to the Centre to reconsider its decision and hold the caste census as part of the 2021 census fulfilling the aspirations of more than 50 per cent of the population.

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