It is as if a veil has been lifted with the publication of the Telangana Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey and its analysis by an independent expert group. Two aspects stand out at first glance. Poverty isn’t purely economic in nature—caste makes it worse. And, despite tall claims of development given the state’s high per-capita income, the truth is that large sections are caught in a financial and caste vortex.
The survey employed a composite backwardness index comprising 42 parameters including social discrimination, housing and gender equity to arrive at a precise picture. Yet, opposition parties termed the survey as misleading, underscoring some discrepancies such as population variance. Nonetheless, even after taking into account the margin of errors, the report holds a mirror to Telangana. And it is a heart-wrenching image.
The discourse may centre on the backward classes, who account for 56.36 percent of the population, and a proposed increase in their reservation to 42 percent. But the devil is in the details. Of the 242 castes, as many as 135 have been ascertained backward. Yet, 30 percent of the state’s welfare beneficiaries are not among the most backward classes. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members are three times more backward than those from the general castes. Among SC members, about half are daily wagers, while a third of ST members live in homes with neither a tap nor a toilet. The survey found that a poor SC family fares much worse than a poor general caste family, highlighting that caste makes the life of the poor an even more painful agony.
Given this state of affairs, the way forward is clear. Welfare and development must percolate to the most deprived. At the same time, we as a society—including the government and the people—must fight caste discrimination with urgency. As complex as the findings are, with sub-castes faring differently on different parameters, extreme care must be taken in formulating policies so as not to harm the social fabric and inadvertently entrench the caste system further. A multi-pronged approach must be adopted without letting politics hijack the issue, because what we are confronted with is an epic tragedy. It requires to be addressed with empathy, intelligence and sincerity if we are to dream of a prosperous, casteless society.