New Delhi [India], July 25 : Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has termed Telangana's Social, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey a role model for the country. He was speaking after presenting the survey findings to senior leaders of the Congress at a meeting at the AICC office in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Chief Minister said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had made the promise of conducting a caste survey during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana state. He said that soon after coming to power, his government launched the caste survey on February 4, 2024 and completed it within a year by February 5, 2025.
In recognition of the completion of the historic caste survey, February 4 is also being celebrated as Social Justice Day every year in the State, the CM said.
Explaining the challenges faced during the survey, the Chief Minister said that many upper-caste leaders raised doubts and objections about the survey. He stated that he was able to clarify their doubts and suggested that opportunities should be given to those backwards sections in the changing times.
The CM recollected that the Telangana people fought for a separate state for 60 years, and many people sacrificed their lives.
"Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the UPA government announced the formation of Telangana on December 9, 2009 and fulfilled the long-cherished dream of Telangana state. Similarly, the Congress government fulfilled the promise of the caste census made by Rahul Gandhi in a time-bound manner," he said.
The CM criticised the BJP for "never fulfilling the promises and deceiving people". On the contrary, the Gandhi family fulfilled the assurances and kept their word, he claimed.
CM Revanth Reddy elaborated on "the scientific methodology" adopted in conducting a house-to-house caste survey with 56 questions, and the opportunity provided to register their names online and toll-free to those who were not available during the survey.
According to the survey, the BCs constituted 56.36 per cent in Telangana. 3.9 per cent of the people declared that they do not belong to any caste, which is also a significant development in the state. An Independent Expert committee and the Surveyors found that highly English-educated people declared "no caste" in the survey.
Taking the scientific data in the survey into consideration, the state government passed a bill providing a 42 per cent quota for BCs in local bodies, and another bill providing a 42 per cent reservation in education and employment opportunities. The state government sent the two bills to the Union Government for their consent.
The CM lambasted the BJP for "acting against" BCs from the beginning of the caste survey. The CM reminded that Union Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in Parliament that the Centre will conduct a caste census.
"After Rahul Gandhi raised his voice on the issue of draconian farm laws, PM Modi revoked the laws and apologized. After the Telangana government conducted a caste census on the advice of Rahul Gandhi, the Center agreed to the caste census. All the credit goes to Rahul Gandhi," the Chief Minister said.
Stating that the caste survey conducted by Telangana is a role model for the country, the Chief Minister called the survey a rare model, and he will explain it soon. The CM appealed to the Congress MPs to fight under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to get the bills passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He, along with his ministers and MLAs, will also fight at Jantar Mantar demanding the centre to approve the BC quota bills.
Turning emotional, the Chief Minister showed a handwritten letter from Sonia Gandhi praising the survey and described it as "more valuable than a Nobel or an Oscar," and 'personal lifetime achievement.'
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, termed it a 'historic milestone' and said that Reddy has set a benchmark for the nation.