Latest news with #CompositeBackwardnessIndex
The Hindu
5 days ago
- 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).
Hans India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Expert Group to submit report on caste survey by next month
Hyderabad: The State government's Expert Group will formulate a 'Composite Backwardness Index' (CBI) using the caste census data to measure disparities across 243 sub-castes. An Expert Working Group under the Chairmanship of Justice Sudarshan Reddy will study, analyse and interpret the data collected under the Social Education Employment Economic Political Caste (SEEEPC) Survey of 2024. The group consists of nine full-time members and other special invitees with expertise in sociology, caste studies, history, policy, law, economics, statistics and other domains who are working in an honorary capacity to prepare a report of their findings of the SEEEPC survey. After the first three meetings held in Hyderabad, the fourth meeting of the Expert Group was held in New Delhi on Thursday at the Constitution Club. The Telangana 2024 SEEEPC exercise is a robust survey of 3.55 crore people with 75 fields of information about each person covering social, economic, educational, identity, occupational and living aspects of their daily lives. It enumerates people across 243 sub-castes and an option of 'No Caste' for those that do not wish to divulge and 'Others' for those that do not fall into any of the sub-castes listed in the enumeration manual. The Expert Group will move to the next phase of the drafting of the report and expects to submit the report to the State government in a month's time. The report will present as ordinal ranking of relative backwardness of each sub-caste based on the CBI score as well as ranking of each sub-caste on each of the seven categories and parameters used for evaluation. The Expert Group has also recommended that the government provide a natural language interface using Artificial Intelligence to the SEEEPC dataset in aggregate form without revealing any household specific information and make it available for further analysis for the larger research fraternity.
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
How Telangana plans to use caste survey data to measure ‘relative backwardness' of subcastes
Telangana has announced the formulation of a Composite Backwardness Index using the state's caste survey data to measure disparities across 243 subcastes. The 'relative backwardness' of the subcastes will be measured using 43 parameters in rural and urban areas, said a statement by the expert committee constituted this year by the state to study, analyse and interpret data collected by the Social Education Employment Economic Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey of 2024. The expert committee has also recommended that the government make SEEEPC datasets available to the research fraternity without revealing any household-specific information. Of the 243 subcastes, 73 subcastes constitute 96% of the population of Telangana. These include 10 subcastes of Scheduled Castes, seven subcastes of Scheduled Tribes, 45 subcastes of Backward Classes and 11 subcastes of Other Castes, the expert committee revealed on Thursday. 'The Composite Backwardness Index will be a numerical and objective measure of the relative backwardness of each subcaste computed through a quartile-based statistical analysis using all the parameters of the SEEEPC data,' the expert committee said. The committee is includes retired Supreme Court Justice Sudarshan Reddy as chairman, writer and academic Kancha Ilaiah as vice chairman and Praveen Chakravarthy as member convener. The 43 parameters used to measure backwardness will include social circumstances, educational background, living standards, occupation, income, movable and immovable assets, and access to banking and finance, the committee said. The parameters were adopted by striking a parallel with the Mandal Commission Report, which had used 11 parameters to compute relative backwardness, it said. The Telangana caste survey had covered 3.55 crore people and collected information about 75 fields, including 'social, economic. educational, identity, occupational and living aspects of their daily lives,' the statement said. According to the expert group, once the disparity is studied, the next phase would include the drafting of a report. 'We expect to submit the report to the government of Telangana in a month's time or before,' the statement read. 'The report will present as ordinal ranking of relative backwardness of each subcaste based on the CBI (Composite Backwardness Index) score as well as ranking of each subcaste on each of the seven categories and parameters used for evaluation.' The next meeting of the expert committee will be held soon to discuss and approve the final report, the statement said.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana Expert Group finalises method for measuring caste-based disparities from the caste survey
The Telangana government's Expert Working Group, led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Sudarshan Reddy, has decided to present as an ordinal ranking, indicating the relative backwardness of each sub-caste while measuring social and economic disparities among the downtrodden. The Working Group constituted by the government was tasked with studying and interpreting the extensive data collected through the 2024 Social Education Employment Economic Political Caste (SEEEPC) Survey. The group, which met in New Delhi on Thursday (May 22, 2025) for its fourth meeting, decided to finalise the methodology for measuring social and economic disparities across sub-castes in the State using a Composite Backwardness Index (CBI). The CBI will provide a numerical and objective score for each sub-caste, derived using 43 key parameters from the SEEEPC data. These parameters span seven categories — social status, education, living standards, occupation, income, assets (movable and immovable), and access to banking and finance. The data will be analysed separately for rural and urban areas to study subtle disparities. The approach builds upon the methodology used by the Mandal Commission, which relied on just 11 parameters. The group has also urged the government to develop a natural language interface powered by Artificial Intelligence to allow researchers to interact with the SEEEPC dataset in aggregate form, without compromising individual privacy. This would enable broader academic and policy analysis based on one of India's most detailed socio-economic datasets, the meeting felt. After three meetings in Hyderabad, the meeting in New Delhi marked a key milestone as the group reached a consensus on the statistical model and framework of the CBI. The next and final meeting of the Expert Group will be held soon to approve the report and finalise its submission. The SEEEPC Survey is a pioneering effort covering 3.55 crore individuals across 243 sub-castes. Of the 243 sub-castes enumerated, 73 sub-castes make up 96% of Telangana's population, including ten Scheduled Castes (SCs), seven Scheduled Tribes (STs), 45 Backward Classes (BCs), and eleven Other Castes (OCs). The survey also provided the option of 'No Caste' and 'Others' for those not fitting into existing classifications. The Expert Group comprises nine full-time members and several special invitees, experts in sociology, economics, caste studies, history, law, policy, statistics, and related domains, all serving in an honorary capacity.
