"42% reservation should be given to rightful Backward Classes": Union minister G Kishan Reddy slams Telangana caste census

"Hyderabad has about 30% of Telangana's population, but not even 10% of the census was conducted there. 10% of the 42% reservation decided has been reserved for Muslim communities in the name of religion... This has been brought up from 4% that was already slammed by a court in Telangana... This does injustice to the Backward Classes... We demand that the entire 42% reservation should be given to the rightful Backward Classes and not just Muslims..."

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy unveiled the 'Telangana Socio-Economic Survey - Model and Methodology' at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi, and urged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to raise the issue of OBC reservations in Parliament.

Presenting the state's comprehensive caste-based socio-economic survey, Reddy stated that the exercise was "not just a caste survey, but a social, economic, educational, employment, and political survey."

As per the data, Other Backwards Classes (OBCs), including practising Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Buddhists, constitute 56.4 per cent of Telangana's population. Scheduled Castes (SCs) account for 17.4 per cent, Scheduled Tribes (STs) 10.8 per cent, and forward castes 10.9 per cent. Notably, 3.9 per cent of the population has been categorised under "no caste."

The survey identified previously unlisted castes and analysed their socio-economic conditions by name and location.

"Education levels showed who was privileged despite landlessness. Even those with assets, if uneducated, remained backwards, while landless but educated families became upwardly mobile," Reddy noted. (ANI)