HYDERABAD — A brewing controversy over the methodology of the upcoming national Census has sparked outrage among Backward Class advocates. Leaders and intellectuals have accused the government of misleading Other Backward Classes (OBCs) by failing to assign unique identification codes to every caste, warning that this oversight will severely undermine the entire enumeration exercise.

The urgent concerns were raised during a joint press conference organized by the BC Intellectuals Forum and the BC Political Front at the Basheerbagh Press Club in Hyderabad on July 10. The gathering, themed "Caste Enumeration in the Census: OBCs Are Being Misled Again," highlighted critical logistical flaws in the government's current data collection strategy.

Addressing the media, T. Chiranjeevulu, a retired IAS officer and Chairman of the BC Intellectuals Forum, provided an update on the Census progress. He noted that while the first phase of the national Census has concluded, the pre-testing for the Phase-II Population Enumeration questionnaire is currently taking place across 16 States and Union Territories between July 6 and July 18.

Chiranjeevulu expressed deep alarm over the disparate methodologies being applied to different communities. He pointed out that while Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are recorded using precise, pre-assigned unique caste codes, all other castes are being documented through an open-ended format.

This unstandardized approach allows respondents to state their caste in any localized or colloquial form. According to Chiranjeevulu, this will inevitably result in the exact same caste being recorded under dozens of different names across various regions, leading to massive data duplication and effectively ruining the reliability of the caste census.

To illustrate the danger, he recalled the disastrous 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC). During that exercise, the absence of unique caste codes led to a staggering 4.2 million distinct caste names being recorded nationwide. He noted that a similar complication compromised the 2014 Telangana Comprehensive Household Survey.

In stark contrast, Chiranjeevulu highlighted recent successful models. He praised the 2024 Telangana Social, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey, alongside Bihar's recent caste survey, noting that both state initiatives successfully utilized a unique code for every caste to ensure a scientific and accurate count.

The forum issued a strong demand to the Union Government to immediately assign a unique identification code to every caste across India and conduct the upcoming enumeration based solely on these standardized metrics. They warned that a failure to do so would render the new Census just as ineffective as the 2011 SECC.

Furthermore, the leaders urged the government not to recycle the outdated 29-question schedule used in 2011. Instead, they demanded a comprehensively revised questionnaire capable of capturing the true social, educational, economic, and political realities of today's population. They appealed to the government to hold extensive consultations with experts and OBC associations before finalizing the document.

To formalize their stance, the organizers released an official letter addressed to the Prime Minister outlining their recommendations and concerns.

The sentiment of systemic betrayal was echoed by other prominent speakers. Purna Chander Rao, a retired IPS officer and Former DGP acting as the All India BSP Convener, alleged that successive governments have deceived OBCs for decades. He criticized the current Union Government for lacking sincerity and expressed grave concern that deliberate attempts are being made to dilute the caste census.

Balagoni Balaraju, Chairman of the BC Political Front, directed his appeal toward the ruling party's own ranks. He called upon BJP Members of Parliament belonging to the OBC community to urgently raise this issue during the forthcoming Parliament session, urging the Narendra Modi administration to lock in a unique code system before full enumeration begins.

Adding an academic perspective to the debate, Dr. Kiran Kumar, leader of the All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA), reiterated that a truly scientific and professional demographic study is strictly impossible without the implementation of unique caste codes.

The critical meeting was chaired by Durgayya Goud and witnessed the active participation of numerous leaders and social activists, including Aili Venkanna, Erra Mada Venkanna, Singam Nagesh, Naga Bhushanam, Chenna Srikanth, Kondal Goud, Lingesh Yadav, Jella Narendra, Bhikshapathi, and Ashok.