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Indian Express
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
How key Telangana panel will gauge caste backwardness on a scale
A three-member expert committee constituted by the A Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government to study the state's caste enumeration exercise would measure relative backwardness of different castes on a scale of zero to 126 on 42 parameters. The Telangana Social Educational Employment Economic Caste Survey (2024) classified 243 castes in the state. This year, the Revanth Reddy government set up a three member committee comprising former Supreme Court Justice Sudarshan Reddy (chairman), writer and academic Kancha Ilaiah (vice chairman) and Congress leader Praveen Chakravarthy (member convener) to study the caste survey data and come up with a way of measuring the backwardness of different castes. Chakravarty, who is also the chairman of the Professionals' Congress, told The Indian Express that this is the first time in the country that 'a measure of backwardness is being done based on a wide variety of parameters'. The 42 parameters being used to measure backwardness of different castes include social circumstances, educational background, living standards, occupation, income, movable and immovable assets, and access to banking and finance. The parameters were designed on the basis of the Mandal Commission Report of 1980, which had used 11 parameters to compute relative backwardness. The Telangana panel's backwardness index has 17 points as positive indicators of development. These including inter-caste marriages, robust gender ratio, educational qualifications including diploma and above, private school education, English medium school education, government and private job profile, ownership of medium or large business, immigration to other countries for work, annual income of Rs 5 to 50 lakh, income tax payment, land holding of irrigated land or land between five to 20 acres, and households having a car and a fridge. As per this, households which have an annual income between Rs 5 and 50 lakh and own large tracts of land, for example, would get a smaller score on the measure of backwardness. On the other hand, those with annual income less than Rs 1 lakh or those who hold less than five acres of land will get a higher score of backwardness. The panel's negative indicators of backwardness include discrimination at places of worship, child marriage, women who have education below Class X, high school dropout rate, illiteracy, daily wage work, child labour, NREGA work, informal sector employment, no toilet, tap water and electricity. 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. Of the 243 caste groups identified in the survey, 73 sub-castes constitute 96% of the population of Telangana. These include 10 sub-castes of Scheduled Castes (SCs), seven sub-castes of Scheduled Tribes (STs), 45 sub-castes of Backward Classes (BCs), and 11 sub-castes of Other Castes.
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.
Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Opinion Express View: Government's decision to hold caste census is very welcome
The Narendra Modi government's decision to hold a caste census with the next population Census is a turning point and a milestone. In a sense, it is the state catching up with the lived socioeconomic and political reality. Caste shapes hierarchy and discrimination, culture and belonging. It plays a role in structuring opportunity and social mobility. It influences choices and trajectories, from education to employment, and rituals of birth, death and marriage. Political parties have long recognised the power of caste as a mobilisational tool and category. And in 1990, with the acceptance of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission Report, the central government acknowledged and affirmed what different state governments across the country had already responded to — the upsurge of the middle castes or Other Backward Classes, and their demand for a more equitable participation and representation. The Mandal moment made job and education quotas the centrepiece of affirmative action policies for OBCs at the Centre, but at the same time, it also inaugurated a long period of dissonance — after all, the government was framing caste-based policy without the empirical data on caste that is necessary for evidence-driven policy. That this glaring gap is now set to be filled is much-needed and enormously welcome. The demand for the caste census has been central to the agenda of Congress, and more specifically Rahul Gandhi, for at least two years now. It was first heard prominently in the Karnataka assembly election in 2023, and it dominated the Lok Sabha poll campaign the following year. The Modi government's Wednesday announcement can, therefore, be read as a vindication of its main opponent's plank, and as a bid to wrest it. It is also a turnaround for a party whose leader said only recently that he recognises only four castes — women, the poor, youth and farmers. By all accounts, ever since Mandal became a political force in the 1990s, rearranging the national political lexicon and giving rise to new caste-based parties, the politics of Mandir was seen as the political counter to it. The project of Hindutva consolidation, went the argument, was threatened by the caste-centric framework. It soon became apparent, though, that the lines were shifting, and that the binary was not tidy. Over the years, even as the original votaries of 'social justice' let their political platform become faded and frayed — Congress, a late convert, has sounded more insistent than credible in its demands for the caste census — the BJP has proved to be agile in criss-crossing the political-ideological fence, and in planting its flag on the other side. Its decision on the caste census now puts its imprimatur on a politics that it opposed to begin with, was awkward with for some time, and then purposefully worked to make its own. There is work to be done after the caste census announcement. The design of the questionnaire will be consequential, and there will be the task of connecting the dots between the data and government policy. The caste census will also pave the way for the delimitation exercise — the OBC numbers and the gaps they point to may blunt the north-south faultline — and the implementation of women's reservation in Parliament. It may lead to demands for extending quotas, and for removing the Supreme Court-mandated cap of 50 per cent reservation. There are challenges ahead, but the fact that caste will finally be counted provides a robust, data-driven basis for policy and politics.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Caste census: BJP counters Congress' ‘sarkar tumhari, system humara' slogan
Dharmendra Pradhan (File photo) NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday criticised the Congress for taking credit for the inclusion of caste-based enumeration in the upcoming census and questioned why previous Congress governments had failed to implement such a move. Slamming Congress' slogan "Sarkar tumhari, system humara" (Your government, our system), Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a 'staunch opponent of caste-based reservations,' which is why a caste census was not conducted under his leadership. Addressing a press conference, Pradhan said, 'They claim the government is theirs, and the system is ours. When this issue was raised, it should have been discussed openly. The country deserves to know the truth. In 1951, whose government was it? Whose system was in place? The last caste census was conducted in 1931. The country wasn't independent in 1941, so it wasn't done then. But in 1951, who was in power? It was the late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.' 'This is well known. If it weren't for Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, social sensitivity wouldn't be a national concern. If the advice of the Constituent Assembly had not been heeded, there would be no reservations today. Why? Because the first Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, strongly opposed caste-based reservations. His opposition wasn't limited to words—he even wrote letters to state chief ministers at the time, warning that caste-based opportunities would degrade quality,' he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Invest $200 in Amazon without buying stocks to earn a second salary Marketsall Sign Up Undo Pradhan further targeted the Gandhi family for not acting on the Kaka Kalelkar Report and the Mandal Commission Report. 'Who controlled the system? Who decided to suppress the Kaka Kalelkar Committee report for years? Even then, the so-called 'First Family,' which now speaks so arrogantly, held the reins of power. The command lay with their grandmother, the then Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi,' he said. 'The Janata Party government introduced the Mandal Commission in 1977 to realign the course of social justice . At that time, the BJP , in its earlier form as Jan Sangh, was part of the Janata Party. Leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani were part of that government. But who kept the Mandal Commission report locked away for a decade? Who was in power? It was the Congress Party. This is sheer hypocrisy and arrogance,' he added. His remarks come after the Congress credited the Modi government's decision to conduct a caste-based census to Rahul Gandhi 's persistent advocacy, calling it a victory for his vision. 'Rahul Gandhi ji said, 'Start counting.' Now the Modi government is making arrangements for the count,' Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 'When our leader Shri Rahul Gandhi ji called the caste census the 'X-ray of society,' the ruling party mocked him, ignored him, and delayed action." 'He has long demanded this—raising the issue repeatedly in Parliament, at public gatherings, and during his travels. But how long can the voice of millions demanding their rights be ignored? Now that the Modi government has agreed to conduct a caste census, we say—better late than never! This is a significant step toward ensuring social justice. It is a victory for millions of Indians who have long fought for equality, fairness, and representation,' Ramesh added. A caste census is systematic recording of individuals' caste identities during a national census. In India, where caste deeply influences social, economic, and political life, such data can provide critical insights into the distribution and socio-economic status of various caste groups. This information is vital for shaping policies related to affirmative action and social justice. Caste enumeration was a routine feature of census exercises during British rule, from 1881 to 1931. However, with the first census of independent India in 1951, the practice was discontinued—except for the enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
