HYDERABAD : Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday announced that the state government would soon conduct a caste census as promised before the state Assembly elections.
He at a review meeting on SC, ST, and BC welfare departments, asked the officials to take necessary steps to conduct the caste census.
Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar (BC Welfare) and Danasari Anasuya (Women Welfare) attended the review meeting.
Revanth Reddy had promised a caste census which would help the government design welfare schemes based on the population of various castes.
The census would help deliver the benefits of the welfare schemes to the targeted sections. Referring to SC, ST, and BC Gurukul schools, he proposed their establishment in the Integrated Educational Hub instead of being set up in different locations.
The chief minister underscored the need to prepare proposals to build an integrated hub in every Assembly constituency, as he felt that the management, supervision, and administration would be easier and more effective with the construction of the Integrated Educational Hub. The location of more number of students at one place would promote a healthy competitive spirit among students, Revanth felt.
He suggested identifying towns or mandals for the location of the Gurukul schools if it is not possible to set them up at constituency headquarters. He wanted each Gurukul school to be set up in 20 acres of land. He urged the officials to mobilise funds from the companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the construction of the Integrated Educational Hub buildings, and for providing the necessary infrastructure.
Officials were instructed to provide complete details of Gurukul schools operating in rented buildings, with proposals for constructing permanent buildings for hostels on a priority basis. He emphasised the need for prompt disbursement of diet, cosmetic charges, and other bills for Gurukul schools, and favoured payments through the ‘green channel.’ Revanth Reddy directed the officials to enhance the implementation of the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Overseas Scholarship Scheme.
He urged them to make sure that more students would benefit from the scheme and instructed the officials to develop a framework to identify top foreign universities based on their institutional rankings, prioritising students based on educational institutions.