A decade later, Telangana gears up for another comprehensive caste survey

In 2014, soon after the Telangana state was officially formed as a result of the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh, then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) initiated a one-of-a-kind survey. The state literally went into a lockdown for a day from 7am to 8pm as four lakh government employees marched on the streets of urban and rural areas and enumerated 1 crore households on a state-declared holiday.

Called the intensive household survey, the idea was to collect important data of the population to tailor-make welfare schemes and frame necessary policies to uplift targeted groups. In the later years, the KCR government introduced a number of schemes for farmers, women, and marginalised sections taking the help of the survey data. In 2024, the Congress government led by Revanth Reddy will also undertake a massive survey, this time with a focus on caste, which will also factor in the socio-economic conditions of the people.

Starting November 6, more than 80,000 government teachers acting as enumerators will conduct the house-to-house survey. Unlike in the past, the exercise is expected to go on for 2-3 weeks and a total of 60-70 questions will be posed to the families. The families would be asked a number of questions pertaining to their caste, economic status, social background including assets, salaries, family details and if they are beneficiaries of any government schemes. A total of 60-70 questions would be directed at the families. The idea of the government is to understand how they can create welfare programmes to precisely reach the most needy groups.

The survey holds importance politically as well since it would reveal the exact composition of each community, which could be useful for parties to analyse voting trends and woo the respective communities during elections. The Congress party is backing the project wholeheartedly. They have invited the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to take part in the meetings in the run-up to the launch of the survey. The grassroots workers of the Congress have also been instructed to coordinate with the locals and help in the smooth conduct of the survey. Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy has also decided to form a separate commission for the enumeration of the Backward Communities.