Hyderabad, May 1 Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday urged the Centre to follow Telangana model for caste census by forming a group of ministers and experts' committee to study the caste profile in every state before undertaking caste census as part of general census.
Day after the Centre decided to conduct nationwide caste count along with the next population census, he suggested that the Modi government first constitute a group of ministers to build consensus by visiting the states to seek suggestions of the state governments and all stakeholders. Subsequently, a committee of experts, including officials, should be constituted to work out the terms of reference for caste census, he said.
Stating that every state has a different caste composition, CM Reddy said the expert committee should visit all the states to study the situation so that a questionnaire can be prepared for caste census.
Addressing a press conference, he suggested that the Centre follow the example set by Telangana, which formed a group of ministers to hold consultations with the political parties, caste groups and civil society and studied the situation in every district.
He pointed out that following the consultations with all sections, 57 questions were prepared for collecting data during caste census. The data of each family was collected through these questions.
The Chief Minister as part of the exercise to collect data, the state was divided into 95,000 units. A total of 95,000 enumerators were appointed and each enumerator visited 150 houses to collect the data during this 60-day-long exercise. The state government had also appointed a supervisor for every 10 enumerators.
He said 96 per cent of the population was covered by the caste census and in view of the demands to cover the remaining four per cent of people, the government provided a toll-free number to enable the families not covered earlier to give their details.
"We have made a very good policy document of caste census without any controversy, any legal litigation or political interference. Telangana model will help everyone," he said while clarifying that they were not trying to belittle anyone.
He suggested that the Centre send its expert committee to Telangana to study the model and assured all support from the state government.
Revanth Reddy said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the responsibility to tell the nation when he plans to initiate the process and complete it. He also made it clear that mere caste enumeration without an in-depth analysis would be of no use.
He said the state government has also appointed an expert committee to study the caste data and based on this suggest measures to do justice to different sections of the society in areas of education and employment.
The Chief Minister thanked Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for taking the initiative for caste census. He recalled that it was during 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' of Rahul Gandhi, people demanded caste census .
"He promised that if Congress comes to power in Telangana, caste census will be taken up. The Congress party formed the government and within 15 months we conducted caste census to show way to the country. We have done what nobody has done for 100 years. Telangana model is the role model for the country," he said.
CM Revanth Reddy recalled that the State Assembly also passed a resolution, urging the Centre to undertake a caste census across the country.
The Congress party took up the issue at the national level by staging a protest at Jantar Mantar. Non-NDA parties joined the protest.
Claiming that the Modi government was compelled to take a decision, he made it clear that they didn't want to talk politics.
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