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New Indian Express
20-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Expert panel submits report on caste-wise backwardness to Telangana CM
HYDERABAD: The Independent Expert Working Group (IEWG), led by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy and constituted by the Telangana government, on Saturday submitted its report on the state's Social, Educational, Economic, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey to Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy. The 300-page report includes a caste-wise ranking and scoring system based on a Composite Backwardness Index (CBI), aimed at assessing the relative backwardness of various social groups in the state. Speaking to members of the group, the chief minister said the data collected through the SEEEPC survey served as a comprehensive assessment of Telangana's social structure. He stated that the caste census was conducted as promised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and would be instrumental in advancing social justice and targeting welfare schemes to disadvantaged groups. Revanth said the state had asked the expert committee to examine disparities between urban and rural areas and identify community-specific needs. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said thesurvey's findings would help direct resources towards those in need. He noted that the analysis was conducted by an indepen ent panel of intellectuals, se-lected for their experience and objectivity "The committee consists of distinguished individuals known for their integrity," he said. Vikramarka added that the state Cabinet was involved in preparing for the survey by developing questionnaires, over-seeing enumeration and setting up block-level teams. When the survey was presented in the Assembly, several queries were raised, but no fundamental flaws were identified, he said. The deputy chief minister also explained that following the availability of caste census data, the government formed a high-level committee that included Justice Sudarshan Reddy, Prof Kancha Ilaiah, Praveen Chakravarty and Sukhadeo Thorat to recommend future action. "The panel worked with a sense of duty, irrespective of caste background. Even though there are many people from the Reddy community-Justice Sudarshan Reddy, CM Revanth Reddy, and Caste Census Com-mittee Chairman Uttam Kumar Reddy there was no bias," Vikramarka said.
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
As Cabinet meets today, BCs wait for a concrete decision on 42% reservations
All eyes are on the Cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday (July 10) as the Backward Classes (BC) expect a huge decision coming for implementing 42% reservations for them in the local body elections to be conducted soon. This is the first Cabinet meeting after the government indicated that local body elections would be held soon, asking the party to get prepared. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy himself gave the indication asking leaders to go to the villages and work there and leave their recognition by the party to him. In fact, he has also put the onus on Ministers for the success of party candidates. The Chief Minister is likely to seek the opinion of the Ministers on amending the Panchayat Raj Act of 2018 to increase the reservations and legal hurdles in it. Should the amendments be brought by an Ordinance or through a special session of the Legislative Assembly is the challenge before it. The party functionaries, on the other hand, have been asked to go to the village level, exposing how the BRS government reduced the BC reservations in the local body polls from 34% to 23% when it brought in the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act in 2018. The fear, however, is the legal challenges that are likely to crop up once the changes are made. The challengers may move the courts, arguing that unless the Centre amends the rules to overcome the ceiling of 50% reservations imposed by the Supreme Court, the State governments have no right to break the ceiling. The Independent Committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudarshan Reddy, to review the caste survey data has completed its work and will submit the report to the State government soon. It has given a comprehensive view of the backwardness of each caste based on various parameters and apparently argued for the implementation of the proposed enhancement of reservations, covering even the most backward castes, thus fulfilling the demands of even the backward castes that have gone unrepresented in the political system so far.
Hans India
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
BRS alleges Rs 1,100 crore scam in Civil Supplies dept, vows to approach ED
Hyderabad: BRS leaders on Sunday alleged a staggering Rs 1,100 crore scam within the paddy tenders, claiming that the state government, which should have received Rs 7,500 crore, secured less than half, with the remaining funds reportedly going illegally to bidders. This, they asserted, occurred because while the price was fixed at Rs 2,007 per quintal, millers were compelled to pay Rs 2,230. Addressing a press conference, BRS leader Peddi Sudarshan Reddy stated that despite alerting authorities and raising the issue in the Assembly through party MLAs, no action has been taken by the government. Sudarshan Reddy expressed suspicion over the participation of only four bidders in the tenders. He alleged that, so far, money has been collected from millers without the paddy being lifted, with cash transferred from millers to the bidders' accounts. 'We have collected 270 bank account details and sent them to the Chief Minister, Civil Supplies Minister, Civil Supplies Commissioner, the vigilance commission, and the ACB, but no action was taken. A total of Rs 7,500 crore should have reached the government treasury through these tenders. Not even half of it came. Instead of Rs 2,007 per quintal, Rs 2,230 was collected,' said Sudarshan Reddy. The BRS leader further pointed out that the High Court issued notices to the Chief Minister and the state minister, yet the government sought adjournments 16 times to file its counter. 'If you did not commit corruption, why are you seeking adjournments in the Court? Even though you filed illegal cases and summoned KCR, KTR, and Harish Rao in the name of investigation, why are Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy avoiding the court?' questioned Reddy. He further alleged that the deadline for the bidders was extended five times beyond the period specified in the tenders. Alleging that the bidders channelled Rs 1,100 crore to the Congress party, Sudarshan Reddy stated, 'We have given all the evidence to the court. Every Congress MLA got Rs 10 crore, and the civil supplies tender scam money has gone to Delhi. The MLAs were given money to ensure they do not go into despair.' He further alleged that Congress party representatives in Delhi were also involved in the civil supplies scam. He claimed that no grain was lifted anywhere except for the collection of money, and that Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy has remained silent on this scam so far. The authorities, he added, claimed that grain was being sent to the Philippines and were attempting to prematurely conclude the tender process. Demanding that Rs 1,100 crore be deposited into the Civil Supplies account, he announced that the party would lay siege to the Civil Supplies Bhavan and also approach the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding this alleged scam. Party leaders Errolla Srinivas, Bommera Ramamurthy, Sushila Reddy, K Kishore Goud, Y Satish Reddy, and Abhilash Rangineni were also present.
New Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana: Jubilee Hills byelection likely by December
HYDERABAD: With the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat falling vacant following the death of MLA Maganti Gopinath, Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy announced on Tuesday that the Assembly Legislative Secretary has formally notified the vacancy via a gazette. The CEO's office has forwarded the notification to the Election Commission of India (ECI), and the byelection is expected by December. Addressing a press conference, Sudarshan said the ECI has introduced several reforms to enhance transparency, voter convenience and electoral efficiency. These include reducing the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,500 to 1,200 and locating polling stations within two kilometres of voters' residences. Mobile phone deposit facilities will also be provided outside polling stations. The ECI has rolled out 21 new initiatives. These include reducing the campaign booth distance from polling stations to 100 metres, launching ECINET (a unified digital platform integrating over 40 ECI apps), linking with the Registrar General's death records to remove deceased voters and resolving duplicate EPICs to ensure unique voter IDs.
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.
