At the outset, the caste survey is merely an enumeration of people along the caste lines after nearly 100 years. It will help the policymakers understand the granular reality of people and how much they have developed since the last caste survey in 1930
The Congress government in Telangana has successfully conducted the caste survey as promised by its leader Rahul Gandhi before the 2023 Assembly elections in the state. This is the third such exercise conducted in India after Karnataka and Bihar. It is aimed at increasing reservation as per Rahul Gandhi’s slogan “Jitni abadi, utna haq”.
According to the caste survey, people from backward classes make up 46.25 per cent of the state population, followed by Scheduled Castes at 17.43 per cent, Scheduled Tribes 10.45 per cent and other castes 13.31 per cent. Muslims form 12.56 per cent of the state population of whom BC Muslims are 10.08 per cent and OC Muslims 2.48 per cent.
While the Karnataka government has been dithering on releasing the caste survey, chief minister A. Revanth Reddy helped Rahul Gandhi flaunt Telangana’s caste survey as an example to set the narrative for the Congress across the country.
The resolution of the Telangana Assembly asking the Central government to take up caste survey across India, though not binding, could exert pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana, where it is aiming to expand its appeal.
At the outset, the caste survey is merely an enumeration of people along the caste lines after nearly 100 years. It will help the policymakers understand the granular reality of people and how much they have developed since the last caste survey in 1930.
Nevertheless, the survey results could subsequently lead to the demands for a higher percentage of reservation, though affirmative action was never envisaged to match the respective community’s share in the population. However, any increase in reservation will go against the 50 per cent cap that the Supreme Court set for the maximum reservations that can be provided. That lobs the ball to the court of the Narendra Modi government.
