Telangana: Key Meeting on Caste Census to be Held Today
Hyderabad: The state government’s caste census, meant to gather a wide array of personal and socio-economic details through 54 questions, will start on November 6, with a deadline of November 30.
Every household in the state will be covered by about 80,000 surveyors who will have a seven-page questionnaire. Each enumerator has to cover 150 households. Every household will be uniquely identified with a specific code, which will aid in data analysis.
The census will collect information about family members, assets, caste and sub-caste, education, employment, political representation, and the benefits received through government reservations.
The data will be the key for determining reservations for BCs in upcoming local bodies elections. The BCs are currently getting 23 per cent reservations but they are strongly demanding enhancement of reservations in proportion to their population determined in caste census.
The data will be made public, unlike that of the 2014 Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) which the previous BRS government did not share with the people.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Monday said a meeting with district collectors will be held on Tuesday to outline the action plan for the caste census. He met sociologists and intellectuals at the Secretariat to discuss changes and enhancements to the enumeration process.
Additionally, a meeting with 300 social scientists, intellectuals, and progressive thinkers has been planned to gather their views and insights. This engagement will extend to representatives from caste associations, youth groups, and commissions such as the BC, SC, and ST Commissions.
Bhatti noted that a pilot census covering 56 households across four districts has been successfully completed.
The caste census is a follow-up to the 2014 Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS), also called Comprehensive Household Survey conducted by the previous BRS government in 2014, which covered 98 questions but whose findings were never published.
Data of the new survey will be made public to inform future policy-making.
The SKS format gathered information on eight broad areas and was conducted on a single day on August 19, 2014, throughout the state by engaging nearly 4 lakh government employees. The BRS government declared a general holiday on August 19 for the purpose.
The Big Six
The caste census will be divided into six main sections
1. Personal and demographic details including family member's name, relationship to the household head, gender, religion, caste, sub-caste, age, mother tongue, and Aadhaar number.
2. Education, marital status, age at marriage, schooling history, type of school attended, reasons for school dropouts, and barriers to education among different age groups.
3. Employment status, occupation details for self-employed individuals, daily-wage earners, and work-related health issues. It includes questions on income levels, tax payments, and bank account ownership.
4. Reservation benefits, educational and employment advantages, possession of caste certificates if they belong to SC, ST, BC, or EBC categories. Additionally, this section will gather details on family members' political background, such as current positions, government nominated posts, terms in office, and membership in government corporations or bodies.
5. Land ownership and agricultural information, Dharani passbook details, land type, inheritance, land purchase and other land acquisition, like those through forest rights. Will include details about water sources, crops grown, agricultural accessories, and livestock ownership.
6. Data on immovable and movable assets, type and number of assets, government benefits received, residential living conditions, such primary cooking fuel, electricity availability and whether the house has a toilet.