TS BC Commission chief slams Centre's census stance

Karimnagar: The State Commission for Backward Classes Chairman, Dr Vakulabharanam Krishnamohan Rao, on Friday reacted sharply to the Central government refusal to enumerate Backward Classes (BCs) and said the Centre was acting irresponsibly.

He reacted to an affidavit the Centre submitted to the Supreme Court that it was collecting no information on castes or backward classes, other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as part of the 2021 census.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Friday, Rao said the Centre's response is unfair, unjust and against the interests of the BCs which comprise more than 56 per cent of the total population and an attempt to deny them the legitimate quota of reservations.

He disputed the Union government's contention the caste census conducted in 2011 was 'unusable' for any official purpose on account of "inaccuracies" in the data. He called it unethical and lacks transparency.

Krishnamohan Rao said the Centre was duty-bound to reveal the data and otherwise backward classes would be forced to think they were being denied their legitimate right of reservations in proportion to their population.

Only certain States that have conducted caste surveys are able to make effective policies for the development of BCs, like Tamil Nadu which is implementing 69 percent BC reservations as they have done their census and are ready with quantified data giving the right percentage of reservations. Karnataka which is ready with quantified data which is not challenged in the court and if challenged also will withstand the scrutiny of courts, the BC Commission noted. He lamented that there is a count of tigers and lions and elephants but when it comes to BCs census the government is stating it does not have any data and also is not interested in getting the data and it puts question mark on the Centre's attitude towards BCs.

He BC Commission would meet with anthropologists and sociologists and statisticians to find a suitable way to conduct BC census in minute detail to advise the government on coming up with appropriate policies.

Telangana stands out in the country with its numerous welfare schemes being implemented for the benefit of BCs which no other State is able to implement. The expenditure on BCs welfare is maximised and they are carried out in saturation mode.

The Commission would launch an interactive portal and would be active on social media viz., twitter.