Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has announced a 42% reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections. Addressing the Assembly, he urged all political parties to allocate the same percentage of seats to BC candidates. The announcement was made during a discussion on social, economic, and caste-based census.
The Chief Minister stated that the caste survey had been divided into four parts, with the first three being presented in the Assembly. However, the fourth part, which contains personal details of citizens, would not be disclosed due to privacy laws.
Revanth Reddy revealed that 3.54 crore people participated in the survey, which found that the total BC population in Telangana stands at 56.33%. He highlighted discrepancies in previous government data, stating that while the former administration had reported the OC population as over 20%, the new survey indicates it is 15%. Similarly, the previous government’s survey recorded BCs at 51%, whereas the latest findings show an increase to 56%.
Criticism of Previous Government’s Survey
The Chief Minister criticized the BRS-led government, alleging that the previous caste survey was conducted by attenders and questioning why the comprehensive household survey conducted earlier was kept confidential. He demanded to know why former Chief Minister KCR did not present the survey in the Assembly. Revanth Reddy further stated that, compared to the earlier survey, the latest caste survey recorded an increase in SC, ST, and BC population percentages.
SC Classification Commission Report
CM Revanth Reddy also addressed the findings of the SC Classification Commission, which identified 59 Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-castes and recommended their categorization into three groups for reservation distribution.
According to the recommendations:
– Group 1 (15 sub-castes) – 1% reservation
– Group 2 (18 sub-castes) – 9% reservation
– Group 3 (26 sub-castes) – 5% reservation
The demographic distribution within SC groups is as follows:
– Group 1 – 3.288% of the total SC population
– Group 2 – 62.748%
– Group 3 – 33.963%
Revanth Reddy reiterated the state government’s commitment to ensuring social justice and equitable representation for marginalized communities.
