Hyderabad: Irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, who headed the cabinet sub-committee on caste survey and SC categorisation, informed the assembly on Tuesday that the BC population percentage had increased in the state. He accused the BRS of false propaganda by twisting statistics.
Refuting the BRS’ claims, he said the BC population percentage, which was recorded at 51.09% during BRS govt, had now risen to 56.33%.
Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes (ST) population percentage increased from 9.8% to 10.45%, while the Other Castes (OCs) population percentage decreased from 21.55% to 15.79%.
He dismissed the figures of 2014 Samagra Kutumba Survey cited by the BRS, stating that their total exceeded 114%, proving them mathematically impossible and misleading. He pointed out that some opposition MLAs were quoting statistics from the 2014 BRS survey, which was never recognised as an official document and its findings were never officially published.
Responding to CPI MLA K Sambasiva Rao, he said the Congress govt undertook this massive survey scientifically to assess the socio-economic conditions of various communities.
When BJP MLA Payala Shankar raised concerns, Uttam challenged the BJP to clarify its stance on caste-based surveys. He questioned why BJP-ruled states and the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not conduct similar surveys despite their claims of working for backward communities. He demanded that caste-based socio-economic surveys be conducted nationwide to ensure fair representation and enhanced reservations.
He also condemned the walkout by BRS MLAs, criticising them for failing to work for the welfare of BCs despite ruling Telangana for 10 years. He accused the BRS leadership of deliberately misleading people and using fabricated statistics to create confusion.
Providing details of the survey execution, he said Telangana’s total population is 3.70 crore and 3.54 crore participated. Each survey unit covered 150 households, ensuring extensive outreach. Over 1.03 lakh govt employees participated in the process, with each team being trained and assigned a supervisor. Additionally, 76,000 data entry operators processed the data, making it a historic milestone, he said. The survey process began on Feb 4, 2024, and was completed on Feb 4, 2025, with a total budget of Rs 160 crore.