Hyderabad, Feb 3 (IANS): The Telangana government will table the caste survey report in the Assembly during the special session called on February 4 (Tuesday).

The state Cabinet will meet before the Assembly session to approve the caste survey report, which revealed that the Backward Classes (BCs) account for 56.33 per cent of the state’s population, of whom 10.08 per cent are BC Muslims.

After the debate on the caste survey report, the Assembly is also expected to pass a resolution urging the Union government to amend the Constitution to exceed the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the Supreme Court.

According to the report of the Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste Survey, 17.43 per cent of the population are Scheduled Castes (SCs), 10.45 per cent Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 12.56 per cent Muslims, of which 2.48 per cent are Other Caste (OC) Muslims. The OCs make up 13.31 per cent of the total population.

The comprehensive door-to-door household survey covered 3,54,77,554 people and 1,12,15,134 families. Of the total population covered, 50.51 per cent were male and 49.45 per cent female.

In absolute numbers, the population of Backward Classes (BC) in the state is 1,99,85,767, including 35,76,588 BC Muslims. The SC population is 61,84,319 and the ST population is 37,05,929. The OC population in Telangana is 44,21,115. The survey reveals that the Muslim population in the state is 44,57,012.

Officials said 96.9 per cent of the households in the state were covered during the 50-day-long survey. According to the report, 16 lakh people (3.1 per cent) opted out due to various reasons. The enumerators found 1.03 lakh houses locked. As many as 1.68 lakh families were hesitant to participate.

The report was reviewed by the Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, who termed the survey historic. He claimed that the survey laid the foundation for comprehensive social justice.

Telangana became the third state in the country after Bihar and Karnataka to conduct a caste survey to determine caste-wise demographics. The survey has been conducted in line with top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s idea of “jitni abadi, utna haq” (rights proportionate to population).

The caste survey was one of the promises made by the Congress in Telangana in its election manifesto in 2023.

The survey was undertaken by the state’s Planning Department after a resolution to that effect was passed in the Assembly on February 4, 2024. "Exactly a year later, the Cabinet will be approving the survey report," Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

The survey was conducted by deploying 94,863 enumerators and 9,628 supervisors across 94,261 enumeration blocks. A total of 76,000 data entry operators digitised the information within 36 days.