Hyderabad: The chairman of Telangana Backward Classes Commission (TSBC) Dr Vakulabharanam Krishna Mohan Rao wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his disappointment and concerns regarding the BC community over Modi’s eight-year tenure.
In his letter, Rao states that when Modi was elected as the Prime Minister back in 2014, the entire backward class looked upon Modi, who also belongs to the community, as a revolutionary change.
“But I regret to bring to your notice that no concerted action is initiated by you in your two-term tenure for the betterment of the BC communities. There has always been a lukewarm response by your government in matters concerning the welfare of the community,” the letter said.
Rao reminded Modi that his government has time and again ignored or evaded taking up caste-based socio-economic surveys of the BC community for explicit reasons.
“With the non-availability of the ‘Socio-Economic Caste Census -2011’, data prepared by the Telangana government could not effectively cover the welfare schemes meant for the BC communities. This is also acting as a serious impediment in arriving at the actual percentage of reservations for the backward communities in local bodies. With the availability of modern tools, the errors on the data can be rectified and can effectively be used for the betterment of the communities, such as in education, employment and political arena,” the letter stated.
Rao spoke about the anomalies in the Socio-Economic Caste Census -2011 where Rs 4,894 crore has been spent already. “No concrete percentage of the BC community was arrived at and the actual percentage of BC population in the country is still not officially revealed,” Rao stated in his letter to PM Modi.
Furthermore, the letter stated, “It is also noticed that no Terms of Reference (TOR) was given to the Committee appointed under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog with regards to the surnames and gotras. The other members of the committee have still not been appointed to date.”
Terming the Centre’s attitude towards the BC community as apathetic, Rao’s letter states, “The government is also exhibited in evading the clarification sought by the Parliamentary Committee on Rural Development with regards to the errors noticed in the 1,34,77,330 people surveyed. The government could have rectified these mistakes using modern tools.”
Rao pointed out that the Centre in its affidavit had maintained that the caste census details of 2021 cannot be used by officials due to a number of errors. “However, according to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, 98.87% of the caste census taken up is corrected. This contradicts Centre’s earlier statements,” Rao said.
Rao mentions a Supreme Court’s 2010 verdict that said a triple test has to be conducted by state governments in arriving at the percentage of the backward class reservations in local bodies, requiring the Centre to take up the socio-economic, educational employment, and political survey of the community to arrive at its actual representation vis-a-vis the general population.
“With the apathetic attitude of the government to the demands of such surveys from the states, it will be a herculean task for the state governments to ensure adequate representation of the backward communities,” the letter stated.
The letter concludes by stating that the lack of BC community compatibility will not project the government in a good light.
“I, therefore, fervently appeal to you to forthwith intervene in the matter and provide us data pertaining to Telangana to enable us to take up various welfare measures, to arrive at the accurate BC population and also to ensure their proportionate share of reservations in the field of education, employment ad political arena,” Rao’s letter concluded.
