Tirupati: Caste census intended for uplift of poor, weaker sections: Collector

Tirupati: District Collector K Venkataramana Reddy asserted that the idea behind taking up caste census was to contribute to the uplift of the poor and towards establishing an egalitarian society.

A regional convention on caste census was held at Sri Padmavathi Mahila Visvavidyalayam (SPMVV) auditorium on Tuesday in which officials and representatives of various caste communities from Tirupati, SPSR Nellore, Chittoor, YSR Kadapa and Annamayya districts took part.

Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that the first population census was started in 1872 in the country while a population census along with caste enumeration was conducted in 1931. The caste census was not done for nine decades. He said that in the later period, except for the SC and ST castes, the rest were being counted under the general category. While the population was 30 crore in 1931, now it is around 140 crore. By counting the population based on the castes, it will be useful to know their social, educational and economic progress in order to take appropriate policy decisions and design government schemes for them. The representatives who attended the conference explained that they will also consider the written requests given by the leaders of various communities to give their messages and submit the report to the State government.

Chittoor MP N Reddappa said that the caste census will contribute to social equality. MLC Dr Cepoy Subrahmanyam said that the Chief Minister through his policies provided self-respect to the weaker sections. He said that corporations have been established in the State in a way that no government has done in the past and political and economic equality has been achieved.

Tirupati Mayor Dr R Sirisha stated that many survey organisations were saying that the caste census is necessary to remove the gaps in the society. She said that caste census would be useful for future generations both economically and politically only if accurate data is available.

Chittoor Mayor Amuda felt that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is a beacon of hope for the weaker sections. She also felt the need for imparting good training to survey officers.

Volunteers along with secretariat staff will conduct the survey. It is explained that every family must go to the app and register in the app.

The authenticity of members of each family who provide details such as income, livestock and other details will be verified through biometrics and OTP.

Tirupati caste enumeration officer and Joint Collector D K Balaji, SPMVV Vice-Chancellor Prof D Bharthi, Kapu Corporation chairman Seshagiri MD Krishnamurthy, Chittoor DRO Rajasekhar, Chittoor District Caste Enumeration Officer and ZPCO Prabhakar Reddy and others attended the meeting.