Telugu states urge Centre for caste census, but don’t want to make the first move

Even though the ruling parties in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have passed resolutions in their respective assemblies in favour of a caste census, they don’t seem too keen or proactive to conduct a similar exercise to gather caste data on their own.

Incidentally, all ruling and opposition parties in the Telugu states are led by upper castes. And with elections being fought like caste wars in these states, political experts say a caste census has the potential to topple the dominance of upper castes – a reason why the governments are reluctant to conduct it by themselves.

Opposition parties such as the Congress (Telangana) and Telugu Desam Party (Andhra Pradesh) too have never goaded the governments to proactively conduct the census for the purpose of social justice.

In October 2021, amid the demand for disclosure of caste data gathered as part of the Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) conducted by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in 2014, the Telangana Assembly had adopted a resolution urging the Centre to take up the caste census across the country as part of the general census.

KCR demands caste census, but keeps SKS data under wraps

Moving the resolution, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said in the absence of accurate data, the benefits of welfare schemes were not reaching many backward castes in the state.

Finding fault with the Centre which filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against the caste census, the chief minister said the former must take up backward class enumeration along with regular census exercises.

He said the BCs constitute about 50 per cent of Telangana’s population. However, KCR has never revealed the caste data gathered as part of SKS.

The Telangana government conducted an integrated household survey (SKS) in August 2014, with the objective to create a reliable database on each household of Telangana state and to facilitate usage by different government departments and agencies to implement welfare programmes.

But the government has never made the data public. Since caste was also covered by the survey, OBC leaders have been demanding the government to make the data public.

Many BC leaders who have been demanding the KCR government to reveal data of the survey, claim that it would prove that their community constitutes over 60 per cent of the state’s population, much more than the figure pegged by the chief minister.

‘BRS afraid census will expose loopholes in quota’

Dr RS Praveen Kumar, president of the Telangana unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), also questioned the state government’s logic behind hiding the SKS caste census data on one hand and seeking a central caste census on the other.

“They (KCR government) fear that the accurate caste data has the potential to topple the dominance of upper castes in Telangana,” he said.

Prof Prabhanjan Yadav, convenor of the OBC Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Telangana, said that instead of adopting a resolution in the assembly, the BRS government could have launched a survey to enumerate castes with the same objective as the SKS.

“KCR doesn’t want to take any step that empowers the BCs. He is afraid that if accurate data is available, BCs will start questioning the rationale behind the inadequate allocation of funds for various schemes. They would then demand more share in power in the form of more seats in the assembly. BRS’s resolution in assembly is only an eyewash,” he said, while calling for a Bihar-like census in Telangana.

But Telangana Backward Classes Commission Chairman Dr Vakulabharanam Krishna Mohan Rao, while welcoming the Bihar exercise, said the Centre should not shy away from conducting the caste census as the exercise falls under the Central list.

“States cannot conduct the census as the matter is in the Central list. Instead of shirking its responsibility, the Centre should bring the subject of caste census under concurrent list so that states would enumerate castes for the purpose of welfare scheme,” he said.

No scope for Bihar-like census in Telangana: Experts

The Congress in Telangana said it has no pro-active policy for the state in case a central census is not forthcoming.

Describing the BRS government as the coalition of upper castes, an analyst said a Bihar-like caste census was unthinkable in Telangana.

“The chief minister claims BCs constitute 50 per cent of the population, but see how many seats have been given to these sections by the BRS. Of the 115 names the chief minister announced for the 2023 Assembly elections, three upper castes, Reddy, Velama, and Kamma, who constitute less than 10 per cent of the population have been allotted 57 seats while BC have been given only 23. How would he (KCR) conduct a caste census? The BRS has just washed off its hands by passing a resolution in the assembly,” said a political analyst on the condition of anonymity.

Andhra says 'ready' yet dilly dallies

With caste census occupying the centrestage ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has also joined the chorus by calling for its quick conduct.

The Andhra Pradesh assembly on September 26 unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to take up the caste census. The resolution states: “Since the national census has not been conducted, we request the Centre to take up caste-wise census in the interest of social justice.”

Unlike KCR’s, Reddy’s government, however, went a step ahead by stating that it would gather the caste data on its own if necessary and formed a committee with six officials to recommend the modalities to conduct the caste enumeration at the state level.

YSRCP’s Rajya Sabha MP and well-known BC leader R Krishnaiah said he was hopeful that the YSRCP government would go ahead if the Centre fails to fulfil its responsibility.

“Census is the responsibility of the Union government. States are not supposed to conduct the exercise and states’ exercise is not legally valid,” said Krishnaiah, who led an independent movement of the backward classes a decade ago.

Experts, however, say that while Reddy has made a clever move by volunteering to conduct the caste census if the Centre fails to do so, he in reality has no such plans. The appointment of the committee, for instance, is a delaying tactic, comments Keshavaulu Yadav, a BC activist from Chittoor district.

“Who is preventing the YSRCP government from conducting the census?” he asked, adding that without the recourse to the committee, the state government could start the caste enumeration.

Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has also supported the caste census.

However, none is ready to make it a political issue beyond routinely urging the Centre to conduct it soon.