Hyderabad:The caste census has highlighted a significant increase in the population of Backward Classes (BCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs) communities, posing a fresh challenge to the Congress government. The challenge lies in balancing the reservations in local body elections based on the population, while still adhering to the 50 per cent reservation cap mandated by the Supreme Court.Ahead of the November 2023 Assembly polls, the Congress had promised to provide 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local bodies, in line with party leader Rahul Gandhi’s slogan, “‘jitni abadi, utna haq” (rights proportional to population).In contrast, the previous BRS government had reduced the BC quota from 34 per cent to 23 per cent in the 2019 gram panchayat elections to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent cap on reservation. At that time, the BRS government allocated 20.53 per cent reservations for SCs, 6.68 per cent for STs, and 22.78 per cent for BCs in the gram panchayat elections.If the Congress were to implement the caste census-based reservations, as proposed by Rahul Gandhi, SCs would receive a 17.43 per cent quota and STs would get a 10.45 per cent quota. This would leave BCs with just 22.12 per cent reservations — significantly lower than the 42 per cent promised by the Congress during the 2018 elections.Should the Congress follow through on its promise to allocate 42 per cent reservations for BCs, the total reservations would rise to an alarming level of 69.88 per cent, which exceeds the Supreme Court’s prescribed cap of 50 per cent. To address these issues, the Congress government has formed the Dedicated BC Commission, led by retired IAS officer Busani Venkateshwara Rao, to enumerate people belonging to the BC community and assess appropriate reservation levels for them in the upcoming local body elections in November 2024.The Dedicated Commission submitted its report to the government on Monday. While the recommendations remain undisclosed, reports suggest that the commission recommended reservation levels for BCs that would allow a minimum of 23 per cent reservations, even after allocating quotas for SCs and STs.The state government’s caste census report, released on February 2, shows that BCs make up 56.33 per cent of the population. Of this, 10.08 per cent are BC Muslims, and the remaining 46.25 per cent are Hindu BCs.SCs account for 17.43 per cent, STs for 10.45 per cent. The Other Castes (OCs) constitute 15.79 per cent of the total population including 2.48 per cent OC Muslims. Muslims, including 2.48 per cent of OC Muslims, make up 12.56 per cent of the population.Telangana has now joined Bihar and Karnataka as the third state to conduct a caste survey to assess the demographics of various castes. With the new caste census data, the Congress government is planning to pass a law to implement reservations that surpass the 50 per cent quota limit set by the Supreme Court. The state government is also urging the Centre to consider amending the Constitution to allow for reservations beyond the prescribed cap.However, this process involves legal and constitutional issues that would take a considerable amount of time to resolve, leading to prolonged delays in conducting local body elections.
Source link
