BC Communities Prepare Members Before Survey

Adilabad: With the caste census beginning tomorrow, members of different communities in the state are talking about information they have to share with the enumerators.

Leaders of Padmashali community (weavers) asked their community members to mention the name of their caste as ‘Padmashali’ instead of ‘Netha’ or ‘Chenetha’ when enumerators visit their houses.

Adivasis leaders told their members to mention their religion as ‘Gondi Dharma’ instead of Hindu and their language as Koya or Gondi.

Mangam Vishwam Rao, state general secretary of ‘Rajgond Seva Samiti’ said ‘Kula Ganana Survey Vasir Mantha.. Aga Mava Matham.. ‘Gondi Dharma’ Injer Vehana’ (in Gondi).

He said it is high time to protect the Adivais’ identity and their community members must protect their rights and unique culture protected by the Indian Constitution. He said Adivasis should mention their religion a ‘Gondi Dharma’ and fill it in the option ‘others’ under the religion category since there may not be a separate religion column in the questionnaire.

However, there are differences of opinion on the issue with some Adivasi leaders arguing that Adivasi should mention their religion as Hindu in the caste census. Adivasi Sankshema Parishad state secretary Naitham Balu said the data to be collected under the caste census may show the increased non-tribal population and their dominance in terms of population due to illegal migrations in the agency areas and added that this may affect their political reservations in future.

He appealed to the state government not to enumerate the non-tribals who migrated to agency areas after February 3, 1970, under the caste census and added that the state government should take the 1970 gram panchayat record into consideration during the enumeration of non-tribals in agency areas.

Leaders of the Mannewar community (Adivasi) asked their community members to mention themselves as ‘Kolawar’ when enumerators visit their houses. The Mannewar community leaders are campaigning for the same in the villages

in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district.

The caste census is likely to give a changing face of the tribal and agency areas with the changing demography due to migrations of non-tribals from the plain of erstwhile Adilabad and other districts and also other states.

Asifabad, Khanapur and Boath Assembly constituencies are reserved for STs out of 10 seats in the erstwhile Adilabad district. Most backward community leaders opine that the caste census may give a real picture of communities and their social-economic and political representations. Most backward communities (MBCs) are of the opinion that they may get political representation in near future.

It is also said that over-representation of some castes in politics with bloated population figures may get exposed with the real population figures that will come out in the caste census.

Kalala Srinivas, general secretary of Adilabad District Backward Communities Welfare Association, said the BC communities will benefit from the caste census data in Telangana only when total reservations increase to 69 per cent including 46 per cent for BCs like in Tamil Nadu. He said in such a case, MBCs will get 20 per cent reservations.