‘Telangana caste survey essential, govt’s handling of data to be seen’: Sujatha Surepally

Academic and activist Sujatha Surepally welcomed the impending introduction of the Telangana caste census in the Assembly, while noting that some caste groups are wary of the legitimacy of the data.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
Welcoming the Telangana government’s move to release its caste survey report, academic and activist Sujatha Surepally noted that there are reasonable concerns over potential shortcomings in the data, and the feasibility of increasing reservations for Backward Classes (BC) in the upcoming local body elections without legal hurdles.
Sujatha, who is the Head of the Department (HOD) of Sociology at Telangana’s Satavahana University, said, “BC reservations and Scheduled Castes sub-categorisation both depend on this survey. Both sections are eagerly awaiting the survey results.”
On February 2, Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy shared the preliminary findings of the Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste Survey carried out by the state government in November and December 2024. BCs (excluding Muslims) form 46.25% of Telangana’s population, the survey found.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
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The report is set to be tabled in the Assembly during a special session convened on February 4. On the same day, a single-member Judicial Commission of retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akhtar will also submit its report on the sub-classification of SCs to the Telangana Cabinet sub-committee. The sub-committee was formed to implement the Supreme Court order of August 2024, which affirmed states’ right to sub-categorise SCs listed in the Presidential List to provide some of them with greater preferential treatment in public employment and education.
The survey also recorded details of sub-castes, land and property ownership, income, education, migration, debt, and inter-caste marriages. So far, only the broader caste-wise composition of the population (SCs, BCs, Scheduled Tribes, Open Category, as well as Muslims) has been revealed by the government.
“There are groups who say that only the nationwide decadal census [carried out under the Census Act] is authentic and reliable. Those advocating for SC sub-categorisation have said that the survey has not reached all households,” Sujatha said.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
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In the initial days of the survey, which was launched on November 6, there were reports of several residents being reluctant to share their details, and doubts were raised on the quality of the data. A few BC associations have demanded that the government conduct local body elections with increased reservation only after covering the remaining households, particularly in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other urban areas.
Officials said that most people in rural and semi-urban areas eventually ended up participating in the survey, with the Greater Hyderabad region seeing the least participation. According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, the survey has covered 96.9% of the state’s population.
Sujatha recalled the Samagra Kutumba Survey (Intensive Household Survey) carried out in one day by the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government in 2014, which also gathered caste data from individuals after declaring a holiday to facilitate the data gathering. However, the findings were never released.
“When KCR did the Samagra Kutumba Survey, there was resistance from some sections who said that this was not a legally binding, authentic census. That data was never used for policy making,” Sujatha noted.
“We are all in an unequal, caste-ridden society. Caste data is crucial for all reservations and social welfare schemes. All research statistics and empirical data are difficult to measure in India, since we have a huge population with several groups.There’s always a limitation,” she said.
However, she commended the Revanth Reddy government for completing and releasing the caste census as promised during its poll campaign. “At least some government has come forward to conduct a survey. In the absence of any data, if some numbers are out, it is a welcome step. They may not have covered all households, but they might have adequate representative sampling … we will get to know more once the survey is released,” Sujatha said.
Before launching the recent survey, Telangana government officials visited Bihar and Karnataka, where caste surveys have been completed in the recent past. The Bihar government’s report showed that 63% of the state’s population were OBCs and EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes). Based on this, the state Assembly passed legislation to increase reservations for EBC, OBC, SC, and ST communities from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs, in November 2023.
However, the Patna High Court declared the 65% reservation unconstitutional, a verdict later upheld by the Supreme Court, on grounds that the report couldn’t demonstrate any exceptional circumstances for breaching the 50% cap on reservations.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
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Before sweeping to power in Telangana in 2023, Congress had promised to increase BC reservations in local bodies from 23% to 42%, and to implement 42% BC reservation in government civil construction and maintenance contracts. The upcoming local body polls are expected to be held only after implementing the increased BC reservation.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
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“Legal hurdles are likely, as there is often opposition from dominant castes against reservations for marginalised groups. That is the challenging part for the government — what stand it takes and how it justifies its data and decisions,” Sujatha said.
She called on the government to use the comprehensive data collected in the caste survey, combined with all the extensive citizen data available with various departments, to provide better, targeted opportunities to marginalised groups.
“Governments claim to be technologically advanced, and say they use technology for good governance. But they don’t seem to converge all of these segregated data, from ration cards, Aadhar, NREGS, labour department, Anganwadis, etc. for targeted interventions. We cannot always wait for the decadal census,” Sujatha said.
She also called on the government to look at the gender component of the caste data while designing policies, stressing that benefits must reach women as well.
Courtesy: The News Minute
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