As Centre prepares to embark on national caste census, here's how Telangana did it
As many as 77 questions and sub-questions were framed to collect social, economic, educational, employment, political, and caste-related information from the residents
While the Centre has announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since Independence, some of the states like the Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telangana have already carried out the exercise.
The Federal takes you through how the Congress government in Telangana led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy undertook the caste census within a year of coming into power in the state.
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The Telangana state cabinet passed a resolution on February 4, 2024, to conduct a social, economic, educational, employment, political, and caste (SEEEPC) survey across the state. This was part of the implementation of the 2023 electoral promise to conduct the survey. Accordingly, a GO (Ms.No.18) was issued on October 10 last year to conduct the survey.
Sub-committee
On October 19, 2024, the state government formed a sub-committee, chaired by N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Minister for Irrigation, Food & Civil Supplies, to oversee the implementation of the SEEEPC Survey, which was simply called Kula Ganana (caste enumeration) in Telugu. The planning department was appointed as the nodal agency for the survey. Before embarking on the caste enumeration, the authorities visited Karnataka and Bihar to study their experience in conducting such enumerations. The findings were incorporated into the Telangana Survey Model.
Survey questionnaire
To obtain reliable information voluntarily from the people, 57 main questions and 20 supplementary questions were prepared, which means as many as 77 questions and sub-questions were framed to collect social, economic, educational, employment, political, and caste-related information from the residents of the state. The survey forms were designed in two parts (part 1 and part 2), spanning eight pages.
The first part included personal details of the family head and members, while the second one comprising 17 questions (7 main + 10 supplementary) was meant to collect family details.
The two-part survey forms were formulated in such a way that all aspects of citizens’ social life, such as education, employment, land ownership, reservation benefits, migration, political participation, and caste details were covered in the survey. No photographs or document collection was required, and full family presence was not mandatory.
Survey methodology
To ensure that no family is left out, each district was divided into Enumeration Blocks (EBs) of 150 families each, resulting in 94,261 EBs state-wide. Each block was covered by one enumerator, and a supervisor would oversee the work of 10 enumerators. So, a total of 1,03,889 officials were pressed into service.
Field-level survey
The SEEPC enumeration began with the house listing on November 6, 2024, and the process was completed in two phases. In the first phase, house listing was conducted for three days, from November 6 to November 8, 2024. The main survey was launched by the Telangana governor on November 9, 2024, and completed on December 25, 2024.
Three options for info
The state government had given three options to the households to submit their information for enumeration.
1. Residents can call 040-21111111 between 9 am and 5 pm from anywhere in the state to request enumeration. A designated officer will ensure that an enumerator visits the household after call validation.
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2. People can visit the nearest Praja Palana Seva Kendras, located at Mandal Parishad Development Officers’ (MPDO) offices in rural areas and ward offices in urban areas, to submit their details, where trained staff are made available to assist in filing the survey form.
3. The survey form can also be downloaded from https://seeepcsurvey.cgg.gov.in. Once filled and signed, it can be submitted at the nearest Praja Palana Seva Kendra.
Survey coverage
A total of 1,12,15,134 families were covered in the survey, of which 66,99,602 families were from rural areas and 45,15,532 families from urban areas. According to government sources, 96.9 per cent of households were covered in the survey. The caste census data entry began on November 20, 2024, and was completed on December 25, 2024.
Key findings
* Total population surveyed: 3,54,77,554
Caste-wise breakdown:
* SCs: 61,84,319 (17.43%)
* STs: 37,05,929 (10.45%)
* BCs (excluding Muslim minorities): 1,64,09,179 (46.25%)
* Muslim minorities: 44,57,012 (12.56%)
* Muslim BCs: 35,76,588 (10.08%)
* Muslim Other Castes (OCs): 8,80,424 (2.48%)
* Other Castes (Overall): 56,01,539 (15.79%)
* OCs (excluding Muslims): 47,21,115 (13.31%)