Latest news with #CompositeBackwardnessIndex
New Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
IEWG to submit report on caste survey soon
HYDERABAD: The Independent Expert Working Group (IEWG) has finalised its comprehensive report on the Social, Education, Economic, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey conducted by the state government. The IEWG, which met at the MCHRD Institute under the chairmanship of Justice B Sudarshan Reddy, finalised the report on Wednesday. The group said that the report, employing a pioneering framework, calculates a Composite Backwardness Index (CBI) for each of the 242 castes in the SEEEPC survey. 'The report, spanning nearly 300 pages, presents a first-of-its-kind analytical model to measure socioeconomic backwardness and assigns a CBI score and rank for all 242 castes. The report is now awaiting final editorial touches and will be ready within a week,' it said. The group has also intimated Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka about this and sought time to formally hand over the report. Speaking to TNIE, IEWG convenor Praveen Chakravarthy said that they have thoroughly analysed the SEEEPC survey data, and given scores and ranks based on backwardness to each of the 242 castes. 'Every caste will get a score on its backwardness. It is for the first time that such an exercise has been taken up in the country. It will completely change the welfare parameters in the country. Telangana will be a role model for the entire nation in this regard,' he added.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Telangana set to finalise first composite Backwardness index; report to cover 242 caste groups
File photo HYDERABAD: The first ever Composite Backwardness Index (CBI) report is set to be completed in the coming days, with the indepent expert group appointed by the state govt finalising the analysis of the data sourced from the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste Survey (SEEPC). During a press conference on Wednesday, committee convener Praveen Chakravarty announced that the final meeting to review the report, which spans 300 pages, has concluded. The team is now preparing to submit their findings to chief minister A Revanth Reddy. Chakravarty elaborated on the innovative scoring system that assigns backwardness scores to 242 caste groups, a task informed by a massive survey that engaged 3.55 crore individuals across 74 diverse fields of information. 'The fundamental concept behind this initiative is a ranking method that quantifies backwardness. To calculate the Composite Backwardness Index scores, the researchers utilised an extensive array of 42 parameters, which encompass crucial aspects such as education levels, gender equality, occupational status, living conditions, income brackets, asset ownership, land rights, experiences of discrimination, and access to financial and capital resources' he said. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad Chakravarty expressed confidence that the final adjustments would be completed within the next 10 days.
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Expert Group on caste survey to submit its report to State government in 10 days
The Independent Expert Working Group constituted by the Telangana government to analyse and interpret data from the Social, Educational, Employment, Economic, and Caste Survey (SEEEPCS) 2024, commonly known as the caste survey, will submit its 300-page report to the State government in a week or 10 days after incorporating a few suggestions made by the members at the last meeting held here on Wednesday. Speaking to the media at the Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy HRD Institute of Telangana, chairman of the group and former Supreme Court Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy said that the group had conducted its last meeting at the institute and deliberated on the report to be presented to the State government. Member-Convenor of the Expert Group, Praveen Chakravarthy, said that they had given rankings to a total of 242 caste groups from the Backward Classes (BC) by developing an objective statistical method called the 'Composite Backwardness Index (CBI)' to scientifically quantify the backwardness of castes. Mr. Chakravarthy, one of the architects of the CBI, said that it was a first-of-its-kind metric designed and used globally to objectively assess social and economic disparities. They had used 42 parameters to analyse the caste census report, which collected data from over 3.55 crore residents of Telangana who responded to 74 questions covering aspects ranging from education and income to housing, landholding, and experiences of discrimination. Justice Sudarshan Reddy said that the State government would decide whether to put the report in the public domain or not once it was submitted. Vice-Chairman of the Group, Prof. Kancha Ilaiah, said that no other State or the Union government had conducted a survey like the SEEEPCS in India since its Independence. This 11-member Independent Expert Group members Prof. Shantha Sinha, Dr. Sukhadeo Thorat, Prof. Bhangya Bhukya, Prof. Purushotham Reddy, State Nodal Officer for the SEEEPCS Survey and Group secretary Anudeep Durishetty were present during the press briefing.
The Hindu
01-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Composite Backwardness Index of BCs to be gauged on a scale of Zero to 126
In what could be a paradigm shift in India's approach to social justice, the outcome of the caste survey of the Telangana government is focussing on the backwardness of castes on a scale of 'Zero to 126' independent of their population size. The 11-member Expert Working Group headed by former Supreme Court Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy set up by the government to analyse and interpret data from the caste survey, has come up with a new concept — Composite Backwardness Index (CBI) — to scientifically quantify the backwardness of castes. The foundation of the report is the huge data compiled from over 3.5 crore residents of Telangana responding to 74 questions covering aspects ranging from education and income to housing, landholding, and experiences of discrimination. 'This is a data revolution,' argues Praveen Chakravarthy, Member Convenor of the Expert Committee consisting of social scientists, economists, statisticians and those who understand the soul of Telangana. 'Earlier, it was assumed that larger the population of a social group meant that group was more backward. But now, focus is on, how backward is a caste in real, measurable terms?' he told The Hindu in an interaction. Mr. Chakravarthy, who is one of the architects of the CBI, says it is a first-of-its-kind metric designed and used in the world to objectively evaluate social and economic disparities. Evaluating Telangana's most exhaustive caste-related survey in India's history was a big task, he said, recalling that the landmark Mandal Commission survey conducted in the 1980s covered only 50 lakh people with 11 questions. To identify true indicators of backwardness the committee performed statistical significance tests across the responses shortlisting 42 indicators across nine categories, including education, living conditions, land ownership, income, access to technology, and social discrimination. Respondents answered questions such as: 'Do you face discrimination in temples?'; 'Do your children attend English-medium schools?'; 'Do you own a vehicle, smartphone, or live in a pucca house?' and 'Do you borrow from moneylenders?' each of which fed into a scoring model. Mr. Chakravarthy explained that each caste was ranked on a scale from 0 to 126 points, with the higher the score, the greater the level of backwardness. The data was analysed through quartile distribution, placing every caste into one of four buckets based on their aggregate scores. The report, expected to be submitted to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, in two weeks, will provide rankings for all the 245 surveyed castes. Mr. Chakravarthy feels the government should release the data in an aggregated form for public use, while protecting individual privacy. Independent researchers should use Artificial Intelligence tools to extract deeper insights to build upon the findings. 'Let people challenge it statistically and academically. It's open data self-reported by the people of Telangana,' says Mr. Chakravarthy. The report aims to disentangle caste-based backwardness from general poverty. Poverty is universal. But caste-based poverty is historical, he points out. Can the CBI model be replicated in the caste census that the Government of India announced recently? The model remains effective despite the disparities among BCs given the unique social structure in the respective States. Mr. Chakravarthy summarises that just like the GDP for economic growth or the Sensex for the stock market, the CBI can be a scientific index for social equity.
New Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Panel to develop composite backwardness index for Telangana's sub-castes using survey data
HYDERABAD: In a major step toward evidence-based policymaking, the Independent Expert Working Group (IEWG) chaired by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy has decided to formulate a Composite Backwardness Index for each of Telangana's 243 sub-castes. The index will be based on data from the state's comprehensive Social, Education, Economic, Employment, Political, Caste Survey (SEEEPC), which covered 3.55 crore individuals. At its fourth meeting held on Thursday at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, the IEWG revealed that 73 sub-castes account for 96% of Telangana's population. These include 10 SC groups, seven ST groups, 45 BC groups and 11 OC groups. The index aims to provide a data-driven measure of each sub-caste's backwardness, drawing from 43 parameters under seven categories: social, education, living standards, occupation, income, movable & immovable assets and access to banking and finance. Panel to submit report soon The group confirmed that statistical and data analysis have been completed, and members reached consensus on the methodology, parameters, graphical representation and key findings of the Index. The next phase will involve drafting the report, which is expected to be submitted to the state government within a month. The final report will provide an ordinal ranking of each sub-caste's backwardness, as well as individual rankings across the seven parameter categories. The IEWG also recommended that the government develop a natural language interface powered by AI to make the anonymised SEEEPC dataset accessible to researchers for further analysis. It may be recalled that the state government had earlier conducted the SEEEPC survey, covering 3.55 crore individuals and collecting data across 75 fields for each person — spanning social, economic, educational, identity, occupational, and living conditions. The survey enumerated individuals across 243 sub-castes, with additional options for 'No Caste' (for those who chose not to disclose) and 'Others' (for those not listed in the enumeration manual).
