Hyderabad: Demand for caste-wise enumeration in census

Musheerabad: Leaders of 14 different BC associations led by R Krishnaiah, the president of BC Welfare Association, met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum demanding caste-wise enumeration in Census 2021. Various BC-related issues were discussed during the meeting. BC leaders pointed out lack of any column related to castes in the sample census form used for collecting data. They expressed their unhappiness over the lack of any column to collect details about BCs, while the form had columns related to pet animals.

Speaking to media after the meeting, Krishnaiah stressed the need for collecting caste-wise data related to various BCs as the data can be used in for implementation of reservations for BCs in education, employment and politics. Data can also be used for the implementation of various BC welfare schemes, he added. He recalled the dismissal of petitions related to BC reservations by courts due to lack of authentic data on BC population. Emphasising on the need for caste-wise enumeration, he said statistics related to BC castes would be key in implementing various provisions and articles for protecting rights of BCs. BC Commission had been finding it difficult to decide on reservation percentage due to lack of caste-wise population data, he said.

Krishnaiah said that several states had passed assembly resolutions demanding that the central government for compilation of caste-wise data. He urged the central government to make necessary changes to the sample form to collect BC data. Krishnaiah said that the minister promised to convene a high-level meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the issue. Among those who met the minister were Gujja Krishna, Neela Venkatesh, A Ramkoti, Nandagopal, Vemula Ramakrishna, Barka Krishna, Dasu Suresh, Ananthaiah, Rajendeer, R Chandrashekhar, Satish and others.