Telangana Backward Classes Commission issues notification for public hearings as part of caste survey

The Commission will also hold public hearings in its office on November 12 exclusively for NGOs, institutions, and caste/welfare associations and on November 13 for the general public, it said in a statement.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Commission for Backward Classes on Friday set in motion the process of conducting a caste survey in the state by issuing a notification for holding public hearings to receive representations from interested parties.

The public hearings would be conducted in the headquarters of 10 undivided districts -- covering all the 33 districts in the state -- beginning October 28.

The Commission will also hold public hearings in its office here on November 12 exclusively for NGOs, institutions, and caste/welfare associations and on November 13 for the general public, it said in a statement.

Commission Chairman G Niranjan said about 80,000 enumerators and about 10,000 supervisors would be involved in the survey to be conducted across the state.

According to the decision taken in a meeting held by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the deadline for submitting the data is December 9, he told PTI.

The enumerators would broadly obtain information on the social, educational and economic status of citizens and if they have got any political opportunities.

The Commission would recommend the percentage of reservations for backward classes in local bodies based on the data.

Reddy, during a recent meeting, asked the officials to start the process of social, economic and caste survey of Backward Classes soon.

Responding to Niranjan’s request to create a special mechanism to conduct the survey since the Commission does not have the administrative machinery for the purpose, the CM entrusted the responsibility to the planning department.

The local body elections would be held soon after the completion of the survey, the CM had said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had promised, ahead of assembly polls last year, to conduct a caste census in Telangana if his party is voted to power.