Andhra adopts resolution for caste-based census

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Union government to enumerate the caste of a person as part of the 2021 census to ascertain the population of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The resolution was introduced by the state’s backward classes minister, Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna, and was adopted through a voice vote, although the opposition Telugu Desam Party stayed away from the proceedings.

“The state legislative assembly is of the unanimous view that there is a need to take up castebased census in order to ensure equal justice to all sections of people as envisaged in the preamble of the Indian Constitution,” the resolution said.

It is necessary to maintain accurate statistics in order to design welfare and developmental schemes for the uplift of the backward classes, besides taking action like identifying the poor among OBCs and extending them the benefits of education and employment, the resolution said.

There is growing demand for caste-based enumeration in India. An all-party delegation from Bihar, led by chief minister

Nitish Kumar, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23 to demand a caste census in the country.

The British counted castes in the decadal censuses from 1881 to 1931, but the practice was discontinued. The census has since counted only the number of people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. OBCs are believed to account for a little over 50% of India’s population.

Calling OBCs the backbone of society, minister Krishna said they were unable to get adequate benefits from the government. It is essential to have exact data on these sections so that benefits of the welfare schemes reach them, he said.

“Unfortunately, there has been no accurate data with regard to the OBCs. The last caste-based census was conducted in India way back in 1931, when the country’s population was just 300 million, including that of (present-day) Pakistan and Bangladesh,” the minister in the YSR Congress Party-led government said. “At present, the country’s population is 1.3 billion. We are forced to make estimates of the castes based on the 1931 data.”

Accurate data on castes will help the government extend reservations and benefits of welfare schemes, and ensure judicious use of its resources, he said.