HYDERABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday joined a host of political leaders in welcoming the Union government’s decision to take up a caste census.
The Hyderabad MP said the inclusion of caste data in the upcoming census exercise was an urgently needed step and a long-pending demand of many groups, which he too had been raising since 2021.
“I congratulate and thank Telangana CM @revanth_anumula garu for his leadership in implementing the historic Caste Census in Telangana. This was the first-ever initiative of its kind in Independent India, revealing 56.32% of the state has a Backward Castes population. Telangana took the extraordinary decision to propose to implement 42% BC reservations also,” he posted on X.
“The need of the hour is proper data on the backwardness of Muslims, including various castes/groups among Muslims. NSSO and other data clearly demonstrate that Muslims were economically, socially and educationally backward. BJP opposed SC-status for Dalit Muslims, it also opposed reservations for backward Muslims,” he said.
“It’s for BJP to be intellectually honest. The data must be collected transparently and put in the public domain. Policies of the government must be consistent with the census data. The most backward communities should get their fair share in education and employment,” he added.