HYDERABAD: The Assembly on Friday passed a unanimous resolution asking the Centre to undertake caste-wise census of the Backward Classes (BCs), while conducting Census-2021.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao introduced the resolution in the House, stating that BC communities constitute nearly 50 per cent of the state’s population and several state Assemblies had already passed similar resolutions.
Rao said that caste-wise census was necessary to maintain accurate data for taking up welfare measures. The resolution is in line with the statement he made in the House on October 5 demanding caste-based enumeration.
“I don’t understand why the Centre is refusing to take up enumeration of BCs in the country. It even submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court against caste-based census," he pointed out.
Rao demanded that the Centre increase the percentage of reservations for Scheduled Castes proportionate to their growing population.
He said that the comprehensive household survey conducted in Telangana seven years ago revealed that of the 1.03 crore families in the state, 18.22 lakh families were SCs, accounting for 17.53 per cent of the total.
“As the figures are seven years old, it is now certain that the Dalit population has gone up substantially. Therefore, there is a need to increase reservations for SCs," Rao said.
