Hyderabad: The state government is set to constitute a new Backward Classes Commission in a day or two for conducting door-to-door caste census in the state, official sources said. The three-year tenure of the present BC commission ended on Saturday.
The Congress government had in February passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly for conducting caste survey in the state. However, it did not materialise due to the election code from March to June for Lok Sabha polls.
The outgoing BC Commission was constituted by the BRS government in August 2021 with Vakulabaranam Krishna Mohan Rao as chairman and Ch. Upendra Shubhapradh Patel Nooli and K. Kishor Goud as members.
The delay in conducting the caste survey was also attributed to the decision of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy not to entrust this responsibility to a BC Commission that comprised BRS leaders. Revanth Reddy wanted the caste survey to be undertaken by a BC Commission that is constituted by the Congress government.
The Congress government wants to determine the reservations share of the BCs at the earliest so that it facilitates earmarking reservations in the upcoming elections to gram panchayats, mandal and zilla parishads.
It should be noted that the Congress promised to implement 42 per cent reservations for BCs in local body elections in its manifesto for Assembly polls, if it is voted to power. To implement this, caste census is mandatory to determine the BC population as it can help avoid future legal complications.
In the February 5 cabinet meeting, the caste census proposal was approved unanimously as was the decision to earmark Rs 150 crore for this purpose. Subsequently, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka introduced a resolution on the caste census in the Assembly on February 17. After a long debate in which all sides including the opposition participated, the Assembly unanimously approved a resolution for door-to-door caste census covering all communities including Muslims.
