Telangana will become the second Congress-ruled state after Karnataka to undertake caste census - an exercise that would continue from November 6 to November 30. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has also ordered the constitution of a Backwards Castes commission following the orders of the High Court, which wanted the new commission to ensure quota for them in the local bodies' polls.
On November 5, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will be in Telangana to attend a programme on caste census. Mr Gandhi is expected to meet associations, student organisations and intellectuals to take their views on the matter.
The previous panel of backwards castes was based on a 1993 law and had mandate only to gather data on education and employment quota. This time, the census will gather socioeconomic profile of all castes, sources said.
Sources said 48,000 teachers will be deployed for the survey, for which primary schools will work only half-day this month.
They will go from house-to-house and conduct survey to collect data. This will encompass social, education, employment, economic, and political data. The government staff will place stickers on doors. There will be 85,000 enumerators and observers.
Caste census was one of the key election related promises made by the Congress.
At the time, Mr Reddy, who was leading the Congress campaign, had said in an open letter that only a caste census would ensure justice for the backward classes.
Telangana DElEd 1st Year 2023-25 Scheduled Out, Check Subject-Wise Dates Decide In "Reasonable Time": Telangana High Court on BRS MLAs' Defection Case Telangana EV Policy 2024: Here's Everything You Need to Know "Moving Towards One Party, One Nation": Uddhav Thackeray On BJP Victory After Mega Maharashtra Victory, NDA's Oath Ceremony Likely Tomorrow Delhi Cop Stops 3 Men During Patrol, They Kill Him. Then A Manhunt Begins 2 More Babies Die, Deaths In UP Hospital Fire Rises To 17 Sea Nomads, Once Masters In Water, Now Forced To Abandon Oceanic Life 163 Kg Employee Sues Company For Over Rs 38 Crore, Says Desk Too Small Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.