Conduct BC Caste Census Along With National Census, Demands Srinivas Goud

BRS leader and former minister V. Srinivas Goud has urged the Centre to include a caste census for Backward Classes (BCs) in the upcoming national population census, saying accurate data is essential to address the social and political backwardness of disadvantaged communities.

Srinivas Goud made the demand at Gun Park in Hyderabad on Tuesday while paying floral tributes to former Mandal Commission chairman B.P. Mandal on his birth anniversary. Telangana Legislative Council Opposition Leader Madhusudhan Chary, BC JAC chairman Jajula Srinivas Goud and others attended the programme.

Speaking on the occasion, the former minister said BC communities continue to lag behind in education, healthcare and political representation despite constituting a significant section of society. He questioned why successive Central governments had been reluctant to conduct a comprehensive caste enumeration when such data had been collected during the British period.

Goud argued that BC details could be recorded alongside the collection of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe data during the census. He maintained that doing so would not require significant additional expenditure and would provide the government with reliable demographic information for policymaking.

He also linked the absence of updated caste-wise data to difficulties in defending reservations before the courts. According to him, a scientifically collected database would provide a stronger factual basis for determining the share and representation of different communities.

Goud further proposed that the government prepare a comprehensive list of castes and publish it online, with a numbering system similar to that used for SC and ST communities. He called on BC MPs across political parties to jointly pressure the Centre to undertake the exercise.

Warning that the demand should not be ignored, he said the BC community would be prepared to launch large-scale protests, drawing parallels with the Telangana movement, if the Centre failed to respond.