Hyderabad: Two different caste surveys will be conducted in Telangana this year. The first one will be conducted by the government's planning department with assistance from the Telangana BC Commission from November 6 to assess the socio-economic and caste details of the state population in the state, while the second one will be by the newly-constituted Dedicated Commission for BCs to enumerate the political representation of the community in local bodies and determine reservations in the upcoming local bodies elections.
The schedule for survey by the dedicated commission is yet to be known but it is expected that the survey during the same period when the planning department will conduct a caste survey from November 6 to 30. The state government has asked the planning department to submit its survey report within a month.
The government constituted a dedicated commission for BCs on Monday and asked it to submit a comprehensive report within one month. This would mean that the dedicated commission has to submit its report preferably by December 4.
Any delay in the report will result in delaying the elections for local bodies. The Congress in its manifesto for the 2023 Assembly elections had promised to increase reservations for BCs in local bodies in proportion to their population.
To increase reservations for BCs, the government needs to assess the BC population and their existing political representation in local bodies. This will help the government to build a strong case in favour of increasing reservations and overcome potential legal complications if anyone approaches courts against BC quota hike.
There is also a strong demand from BC organisations to increase reservations to at least 52 per cent. They argue that BCs did not get even 26 per cent reservations in local bodies in Telangana so far although their population was more than 50 per cent.
