'Caste Census Was Long-Pending Demand,' Says AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi said on Wednesday that the caste census was a long-pending demand of many groups, and he had been demanding the same since 2021.

“The Centre has agreed to include caste data in the upcoming Census exercise. This was needed urgently & it was a long-pending demand of many groups. I’d also made the same demand since 2021,” Owaisi posted on X.

He congratulated and thanked Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy 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 per cent of the state has a Backward Castes (BC) population. Telangana took the extraordinary decision to propose to implement 42 per cent BC reservations also,” said Owaisi.

The AIMIM leader called for proper data on the backwardness of Muslims. “The need of the hour is proper data on the backwardness of Muslims, including the various castes/groups among Muslims. NSSO & other data clearly demonstrates that Muslims are economically, socially & educationally backward,” he said.

The Lok Sabha member noted that the BJP opposed Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims and that it is also opposed to reservations for backward Muslims.

“It’s for the BJP to be intellectually honest. The data must be collected transparently & put in public domain. Policies of the govt must be consistent with the Census data. The most backward communities should get their fair share in education & employment,” he added.

The caste survey conducted in Telangana revealed that the population of BCs including BC Muslims is 56.33 per cent. According to the survey report, Muslims constitute 12.56 per cent of Telangana’s population and of them, more than 10 per cent are BCs.

The survey revealed that there are 10.08 per cent BC Muslims. The remaining 2.48 per cent are Other Caste (OC) Muslims.

As per the survey, 17.43 per cent of the population are Scheduled Castes, 10.45 per cent Scheduled Tribes and 13.31 per cent OCs.

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