Hyderabad: The much-anticipated Telangana Caste Survey results have been released, providing a comprehensive demographic breakdown of the state’s population. Conducted on a massive scale, this survey marks the largest post-independence caste enumeration in India, covering 96.9% of Telangana households and recording data from 3,54,77,554 individuals.
Population Distribution by Caste Groups
The survey categorizes the population as follows:
• Backward Classes (BCs): 1,64,09,179 (46.25%)
• Scheduled Castes (SCs): 61,84,319 (17.43%)
• Scheduled Tribes (STs): 37,05,929 (10.45%)
• Muslims: 44,57,012 (12.56%)
• BC Muslims: 35,76,588 (10.08%)
• OC Muslims: 8,80,424 (2.48%)
• Other OCs: 44,21,115 (13.31%)
This places the total OC population at 15.79%, while BCs form the largest group, comprising nearly half of the state’s population.
Survey Execution and Workforce
The survey was an extensive operation, deploying:
• 94,863 enumerators and 9,628 supervisors across 94,261 enumeration blocks.
• 76,000 data entry operators worked to digitize the collected data within 36 days.
Challenges Faced During the Survey
Despite its success, the survey encountered several challenges, including:
• 1.03 lakh houses being locked at the time of the survey.
• 1.68 lakh families initially hesitating to participate.
• 84,137 houses were misclassified due to non-residential usage or occupants being non-Telangana residents.
Significance of the Survey
This extensive data collection will serve as a critical tool for shaping Telangana’s policies on reservations, welfare schemes, and resource allocation, ensuring a data-driven approach to governance. The findings also provide valuable insights into the socio-economic conditions of different communities across the state.
