‘Hold special Assembly sessions on Census’

Demands OBC caste enumeration and separate religious identity for Adivasis

metro india news  I hyderabad

Telangana Rakshana Sena president Kalvakuntla Kavitha has urged the State government to take steps to ensure that the upcoming nationwide Census includes caste-wise enumeration of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and a separate identification of the religion of Adivasis. In an open letter to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, she demanded that special sessions of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council be convened immediately to discuss these issues. With the house-to-house Census scheduled to begin in December, she urged the government not to delay taking a decision.

Kavitha said OBC organisations across the country were agitating for caste enumeration and the State government needed to respond to their demands.

The absence of accurate population data on OBC communities was creating difficulties in designing welfare schemes and development programmes suited to their social and economic conditions, she said. She demanded a separate column in the Census to record the population of each OBC caste, similar to the enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

She also called for the separate identification of Adivasi religion, citing their distinct way of life, culture and traditions. She recalled that earlier Censuses had provided separate recognition to Adivasi religions and urged the government to continue the practice.

She said the unique customs, festivals, traditions and nature-centric lifestyle of Adivasi communities must be taken into account during the enumeration. Kavitha urged the government to convene special sessions of both Houses to hold a comprehensive discussion on OBC caste enumeration and separate recognition of Adivasi religion. In particular, she called for the Assembly to adopt a resolution seeking separate identification of Adivasi religion in the Census and forward it to the Central government. With the Census process scheduled to begin in December, she urged the Chief Minister to respond immediately and take a clear stand on the demands.