The Telangana State Legislative Assembly on Friday, February 17 passed a resolution for conducting a caste census. The census is aimed at assessing the social, economic, educational, employment, political and caste status of the Telangana public.
The resolution was passed after a marathon debate during which the opposition parties suggested that a Bill be passed instead of a resolution. The Congress government, however, ruled out the need for legislation.
The resolution was tabled by Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar who also announced that Rs 150 crore Ponnam Prabhakar has been allocated for the survey and if need be, more money would be sanctioned by the state government.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy noted that the resolution for the conduct of the survey was introduced after elaborate discussion in the state cabinet meetings over the modalities that should be adopted for it.
He said the government decided to conduct the survey for implementation of schemes for empowering the backward classes in a scientific manner. The survey will also help in ensuring availability of adequate funds and opportunities to backward classes and assured that the government is open to receiving constructive suggestions from the opposition.
The Chief Minister took a dig at the BRS, recalling that the previous government conducted a comprehensive household survey but the details of the survey were not made public. “One family used the then Samagra Kutumba Survey data for political gains,” he alleged.
Stressed the need for legal backing, BRS MLA KT Rama Rao (KTR) recalled that a similar exercise taken up in Bihar encountered legal hurdles. He suggested that the government enact a legislation for caste survey. He also mooted the idea of seeking judicial sanctity by constituting a committee headed by a High Court judge.
AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi questioned as to why the government has not tabled a Bill that would give statutory backing to the entire process. He wanted the government to table the details of a similar household survey conducted by the previous BRS government.