Telangana Assembly Urges Centre to Include OBCs in Census 2027

The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Friday passed a resolution urging the Centre to include Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the second phase of Census 2027 and collect their details on par with Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). BJP members staged a walkout while the resolution was being taken up.

The resolution was moved by Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who urged the Centre to include OBC identification in Question 10 of the census questionnaire, along with the existing mechanism for recording SC and ST details. He said reliable data on the population and socio-economic conditions of backward communities was essential for effective welfare and development planning.

The resolution also proposed that the lists of backward classes recognised by the Centre and state governments be uploaded in advance on the digital census portal. This would enable census enumerators to select the relevant caste from the database during household-level data collection and help make the exercise more systematic.

The government said comprehensive caste-wise data would provide a stronger basis for implementing welfare schemes and assessing the needs of backward communities.

The BJP, however, questioned the Congress government over the implementation of the BC Declaration announced in Kamareddy ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. BJP Deputy Floor Leader Payal Shankar sought clarity on promises including increasing BC reservations in local bodies from 23 per cent to 42 per cent, introducing a statutory BC sub-plan, spending Rs 1 lakh crore on BC welfare over five years and creating a separate department for the most backward communities.

Responding to the BJP's objections, Ponnam Prabhakar asked the party's legislators to raise the issue with the Centre and take an all-party delegation from Telangana to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the BJP's decision to walk out without supporting the resolution amounted to an insult to the state's BC communities.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said caste-wise enumeration was necessary to address social inequalities and ensure justice for backward sections. He asked the BJP to clarify its position on conducting a caste census and urged the Centre to adopt Telangana's caste survey as a model for the national exercise.

Following the discussion, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar announced that the resolution had been adopted.