Caste census will ensure economic equality: Minister

Vijayawada: Minister for BC welfare, information and public Relations Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna said training programmes will be conducted from November 21 in the state at the village and mandal levels to carry out caste census.

He said the caste census will be useful for effective implementation of the welfare schemes and to ensure economic equality among the people in the state. He was the chief guest at the regional meeting organised on caste census in a hotel here on Monday.

NTR district administration organised the regional meet which was attended by people’s representatives from six districts.

Minister Venugopala Krishna said state and district level training programme for caste census has already been completed and village and mandal level training classes will be conducted for the ward/village secretariat staff and the volunteers from November 21.

He said caste census started in India in 1872 and were held later in 1931 and 1941. Caste census was not completed in 1941. Referring to Andhra Pradesh, the minister said the AP Assembly passed a resolution in 2021 for the caste census and sent it to the Union government.

The state government has decided to take up caste census since the Central government did not respond to it, he said, adding the state government was in the forefront in the country in implementation of welfare schemes and hoped the caste census to be conducted by the government would be very useful for effective implementation of welfare schemes in the state.

Venugopala Krishna urged the officials to take special care for successful completion of caste census and added that the caste associations would play very important role in the successful conduct of caste census.

He said the caste census will lay foundation for the economic and political development of the people in the state and it will be beneficial to the future generations.

NTR district collector S Dilli Rao, who presided over the meeting, said the decision taken by the state government to conduct caste census would benefit people in future. He said 4,500 ward/village secretariat staff and 10,500 volunteers will take part in the district in cast census.

MLCs Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, Sai Kalpalata Reddy, Kapu Corporation chairman Adapa Seshagiri, State SC Commission chairman Victor Prasad, Vijayawada mayor R Bhagyalakshmi, chairpersons of various corporations, officials and others attended the regional conference.