K. Kavitha | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
HYDERABAD
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has expressed doubts over the caste census conducted by the Congress government in Telangana stating that there are disparities in the number of households, total population compared to the data collected as part of 2011 Census and integrated household survey conducted in 2014.
Speaking separately on the issue on Monday, party MLC K. Kavitha and former minister V. Srinivas Goud said it was for Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to answer himself whether the data collection exercise was correct and the data was genuine with reports from across the State indicating that the surveyors (data collection staff) did not contact many households.
Stating that as per 2011 Census data the number of households in Telangana was 83 lakh and population was 3.5 crore, Ms. Kavitha said the household survey conducted in August 2014 had found that the households were at 1.03 crore and population at 3.68 crore, indicating that about 20 lakh households had increased in a matter of just four years.
However, the recent caste census conducted had put the number of households at 1.15 crore and population at 3.7 crore, raising doubts over the two figures as number of households had gone up by only 12 lakh and population by just 2 lakh in the 10-year period from 2014 to 24, the BRS MLC said.
Further, she pointed out that the household survey conducted by the BRS government had found OC (open category or forward castes) at much lesser proportion compared to their numbers revealed in the recent survey. She sought to know whether only the OC population had increased and that of BC, SC and ST had decreased as the difference in the BC population in the two surveys was 21 lakh.
‘Introduce Bill’
She also demanded that the State government introduce a Bill in both the State Assembly and the Legislative Council to provide 56.3% quota for Backward Classes, including 46.25% BCs and 10.08% Muslims in BC Category, in the local body elections. The local body elections should be held only after ensuring adequate quota for the BCs as promised by the ruling Congress, she said.
Speaking to the media in Karimnagar on Monday, she pointed out that the statistics from the recent caste survey conducted by the State Planning department revealed that the BC population is 46.25% in Telangana. This is in contrast to the National Health Mission data according to which Telangana has 50% to 52% of BC population.
“As per the latest caste survey, the population of BCs is underestimated. This amounts to manipulating the BC population figures to undermine their rightful representation,” she charged, challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘silence’ on the BC issue in Telangana
She further demanded that the caste census data be made available for public scrutiny and a fortnight-long exercise be conducted across the State to give an opportunity to those who have been left out of the recent caste census to enroll their details.
Published – February 03, 2025 08:27 pm IST
