Kavitha Threatens to Stall Census Work in Telangana Over OBC Column Demand

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha has said she will obstruct census operations in Telangana if the State government fails to secure a dedicated Other Backward Classes (OBC) column, along with a standardised caste-coding mechanism, in the upcoming nationwide census.

Addressing a meeting organised by the All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA) and the Telangana BC Rights Forum in Hyderabad, she asked Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to get a resolution passed in the State Assembly calling for a separate OBC column in the census.

Ms. Kavitha argued that without an assured column and a uniform coding system, the exercise would not produce usable data on backward classes, and said she would treat the matter as a condition for cooperation with the enumeration process.

She said the absence of standardised codes could lead to castes being split into differently named groups, undercounted or left unclassified across States, which in turn would affect access to education, employment and welfare benefits.

The BRS leader also alleged that the Union government was undermining the interests of OBCs, claiming that less than ₹2,000 crore out of a Union budget of about ₹50 lakh crore had been allocated for backward classes. The figures cited were her own and have not been independently verified.

The gathering adopted nine resolutions under what has been titled the Hyderabad OBC Declaration. These include a nationwide caste census with a separate OBC column and unique codes for every caste; representation in education, employment and politics in proportion to population; 50% reservation for backward classes based on the estimated 52% BC population recorded in the 1931 Census; and the removal of the 50% ceiling on reservations.

Professor Suraj Mandal of Delhi University referred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court's rejection of 36% reservation in local bodies, the impasse over 42% BC reservation in Telangana, and what he described as a lack of OBC representation among Supreme Court judges and officials in the Prime Minister's Office.

Among those who attended were Dharmendra Kushwaha, an OBC leader from Maharashtra; Sunil Varma, president of the SC, ST, OBC and Minority Sangh in Uttar Pradesh; Thiru Rathna Sabapathy of the Party for the Rights of OBCs in Tamil Nadu; Yejjurappa of the Karnataka OBC Federation; Umesh Korram of the Sakala OBC Mahasabha; Professor Gitika of Cotton College, Assam; Razia Bibi of the OBC Association, Kerala; Bansi Lal and Neelam Kumari of the OBC Mahasabha, Jammu and Kashmir; and Vishwajeet Ratoniya of the OBC United Front, Rajasthan.

The demand comes amid a long-running national debate on caste enumeration. The last full caste count in India was carried out in the 1931 Census, and subsequent exercises did not publish comprehensive caste-wise data, although the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 collected such information. The Union government has announced that the next census will be conducted in 2027 and will include caste enumeration.

The 50% ceiling on reservations that the declaration seeks to remove was laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1992, which held that total reservations should ordinarily not exceed half of available seats, while allowing exceptions in specific circumstances.