The TDP has urged the Union government to take up a census of the Backward Classes (BCs).
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu said inclusion of the BCs in census was essential for their welfare and progress.
Pointing out that the BCs constituted the majority of the population in the country but were a neglected lot, Mr. Naidu said the Kaka Kalelkar Commission, the first Backward Classes Commission constituted in 1953, and other subsequent commissions, including the ones constituted by the State governments, had recommended enumeration of the BCs in the census.
Referring to the speculation that a caste census would further deepen the existing social divisions and promote discrimination, Mr. Naidu maintained that exclusion of caste data would be as unjust as the caste-based discrimination itself.
“Lack of data will only result in inefficient policies and weak implementation of schemes meant for the welfare and development of the BCs,” he said.
The previous data was almost 90 years old and, therefore, outdated, and the welfare schemes could not be implemented based on it, he observed, and sought “right steps towards creating an egalitarian society.”
Mr. Naidu said effective implementation of Articles 15 (4) and 16 (4) of the Constitution dealing with reservation for the BCs in educational institutions and State services was not possible without estimating the population of the BCs.
He said the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, under the TDP rule, had unanimously passed a resolution on Backward Classes caste census and had sent it for Centre’s consideration.
“The many policies and schemes for BC welfare have not yielded the desired result in the absence of adequate data on their population,” he said.
