Centre Should Use Telangana’s Model To Conduct Caste Census: Revanth Reddy

A day after the Union Cabinet decided to conduct the caste census alongside the decadal census, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and assured all possible support for the successful conduct of the exercise.

Telangana, Karnataka, and Bihar are the only three States in India that have independently conducted a caste census so far. The Congress has been consistently demanding that the Centre conduct a caste census.

Reiterating Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, Revanth said that a caste census would act as an X-ray to better understand the country's demography and ensure the fair representation and distribution of resources.

Asserting that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had agreed to conduct the caste census due to pressure from the Congress, the Chief Minister emphasized the importance of the exercise.

Telangana has set a standard in conducting the caste census, Revanth said, urging the Centre to adopt the State’s model for implementing the exercise nationwide.

He advised the Centre to form a Committee of Ministers and a panel of experts, including government officials. “These panels should tour the country to gauge how castes are categorized. This step is important because there are large-scale discrepancies in caste categorization across States. For instance, while Lambadas are categorized as STs (Scheduled Tribes) in one State, they are considered OBCs (Other Backward Castes) in another,” he explained.

The Chief Minister suggested that inputs from these committees should be used to formulate the Terms of Reference, based on which the caste census should be conducted.

He pointed out that the Telangana government had formulated 57 questions to be asked during the caste census.

Revanth Reddy also urged the Centre to inform the public about when the process would begin and conclude.

“Once the caste census is completed, the government must decide how the collected data will be used. Experts, stakeholders, and civil society must be involved to break down the data and adopt an approach that benefits the public,” the Telangana Chief Minister said.

Stressing the need to set politics aside, Revanth Reddy emphasized that State governments must cooperate with the Centre to ensure the exercise is a success.